U.S. stocks end mixed amid rate hike concerns

U.S. stocks closed mixed Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average eclipsing previous day's closing record, as Wall Street digested rate hike comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 39.78 points, or 0.21 percent, to 18,847.66. The S&P 500 fell 3.03 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,164.45. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 28.32 points, or 0.54 percent, to 5,237.11.

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.

In corporate news, shares of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. jumped 3.97 percent to 9.16 U.S. dollars apiece after the U.S. retailer delivered mixed third-quarter results.

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.

For the week, all three major indices posted solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq soaring 5.4 percent, 3.8 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively. Enditem