Update: Wall Street Wavers, Logs Mixed Weekly Performance

04:37 PM EDT, 09/18/2026 (MT Newswires) -- (Updates with market moves at the end of the day, and other changes, if any.) US stocks struggled for direction on Friday as Wall Street turned in a mixed performance for the week, with traders pondering the path forward for inflation and interest rates. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.4% higher at 26,522.54, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.2% to 7,650.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2% to settle at 51,682.64. Among sectors, utilities led the laggards, while technology paced the gainers. This week, the Dow lost 1.7%, marking its third consecutive weekly decline. The Nasdaq gained 0.7%, while the S&P 500 ticked down 0.1%. Earlier in the week, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points in a unanimous vote to combat sticky inflation, marking its first hike since 2023. It signaled another increase later this year. Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said Friday that energy prices are not the only factor driving inflation higher. "Higher oil prices have been an important driver of elevated inflation, but it is important to acknowledge that our inflation problem is not just about energy," Schmid said. "Inflation excluding energy has also been running hot and a broad range of goods and services are showing price growth inconsistent with our price stability target." Higher oil prices have slowed the progress of US inflation toward the Fed's 2% target, Morgan Stanley said, as it raised its year-end projection for the central bank's preferred price gauge. Morgan Stanley expects two more Fed rate hikes of 25 basis points each, one in December and the other in March. Markets are now pricing in a 55% probability that the central bank will increase interest rates by 25 basis points in October, while the remaining odds point to a pause, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Treasury yields were higher, with the 10-year rate up 5.9 basis points at 5% and the two-year rate rising seven basis points to 4.76%. In other economic news, US industrial production unexpectedly held steady in August as manufacturing output fell after rising for seven straight months, Federal Reserve data showed. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was down 2.1% at $99.80 a barrel in Friday late-afternoon trade, while Brent dropped 1.6% to $103.19. In company news, Nucor (NUE) shares slumped 6.3%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, after the steelmaker overnight issued a downbeat earnings outlook for its fiscal third quarter. Apple (AAPL) shares edged down 0.3%. The tech giant's recently launched iPhone 18 is seeing "muted" initial wait times in major global markets, UBS Securities said in a note. Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) said Friday that Warren Buffett stepped down as chairman of the conglomerate, with his son Howard Buffett succeeding the 96-year old billionaire. The company's class A shares was flat, while its class B shares rose 0.1%. Spot gold advanced 0.9% to $4,379.66 per troy ounce, while silver gained 1.4% to $66.99 per ounce.