04:44 PM EST, 11/15/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes closed mixed following a signal from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that economic strength could temper the speed at which the central bank plans to ease policy.

* The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at 43,444.99 on Friday, compared with 43,988.99 a week ago. The S&P 500 stood at 5,870.62 end-of-play, versus 5995.54 a week earlier. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 18,680.12, compared with 18,286.78 a week prior. The financials sector led this week, while healthcare lagged the most.

* Powell, on Thursday, said the US economy is "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry" to ease monetary policy after October's producer price data released the same day showed sequential acceleration. Earlier in the week, the consumer price inflation index for the same month rose in line with market expectations.

* On Friday, US retail sales climbed 0.4% in October, beating the 0.3% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and following the previous month's 0.8% move higher.

* Powell's comments, reinforced by retail sales, helped drag the probability of the Federal Open Market Committee cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in December to 62% from 72% a day ago. The remaining likelihood was for a pause in the easing cycle kick-off in September, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool late on Friday.

* "At the very least, policy is not on a predetermined path, and while changing conditions do likely warrant a further reduction in policy firming back towards neutral, we anticipate a very slow and tempered pace of Fed action," Stifel said Friday.

* "Meanwhile, expectations of solid domestic growth, stubbornly sticky inflation, and -- finally -- concerns of a bloated government balance sheet will continue to reshape expectations for higher longer-term rates, resulting in a more normal-shaped curve as we look out further into the new year," the Stifel note added.