04:05 PM EDT, 09/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Friday as markets awaited the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due next week.

* There's currently a roughly 53% probability that the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee will lower its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points Wednesday, with the remaining odds in the favor of a more aggressive 50-basis-point reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

* US consumer sentiment increased more than estimated in September, while year-ahead inflation expectations dropped to the lowest reading since December 2020, preliminary results from the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers showed.

* October West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $0.32 to settle at $68.65 per barrel, while November Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.35 at $71.72. Prices have continued to rebound from three-year lows touched Tuesday on weak demand from China. However following Hurricane Francine's passage through the Gulf of Mexico 732,316 barrels per day of supply remain shut in, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

* Boeing ( BA ) was down 3.5% after members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers unanimously rejected a tentative labor deal between the plane maker and the union.

* Adobe (ADBE) shares were down 8% after the software maker issued a fiscal Q4 revenue outlook that fell short of Wall Street's views at the time even as it logged stronger-than-expected Q3 results.