U.S. stocks waver narrowly amid rate hike concerns

U.S. stocks fluctuated in a tight range in the morning session Friday as Wall Street digested rate hike comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 36.85 points, or 0.20 percent, to 18,771.03. The S&P 500 lost 9.74 points, or 0.45 percent, to 2,157.74. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged up 0.67 point, or 0.01 percent, to 5,209.47.

Fischer, a voting member of the Fed's policy-setting committee, said in prepared remarks that he expects U.S. rates to rise gradually.

He added that the U.S. central bank is close to achieving its dual mandate, according to the CNBC.

Early this month, the Fed left interest rates unchanged amid uncertainty about market reactions to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, but signaled that it could raise rates again as soon as December.

On the economic front, U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded in early November from a two-year low level recorded in October as consumers raised their economic expectation.

The preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment for November rose to 91.6 from 87.2 in October, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.

Meanwhile, traders continued to assess the economic impacts after Donald Trump won the presidential election.

Analysts thought that the increased prospect of tax cuts and a generally pro-growth set of policies from Trump, aided and abetted by the Republican clean sweep of Congress, are bullish for the stock market.

On Thursday, U.S. stocks ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average refreshing its intraday and closing records, as investors continued to digest Tuesday's presidential election. Enditem