US stocks end higher but Wall Street closes out losing week amid interest rate concerns

• Major indexes ended Friday higher but were down on the week as rate fears persisted.
• Signs of a tight labor market renewed fears of further interest rate hikes this year.

US stocks closed mixed on Friday, with two of the major indexes ending the day nearly flat, though the market ended the week lower.

Through the week, the S&P 500 fell 1.26%, the Dow fell 0.53%, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.11%.

The last few days have reignited investor concerns over further interest rate hikes, as a Thursday report showed a still-tight labor market, with weekly jobless claims coming in at 216,000, lower than 230,000 expected by economists and the lowest reading since February.

Fears eased somewhat after New York Fed President John Williams described the economy as headed "in the right direction." According to the CME FedWatch Tool, 43.5% of investors are expecting an interest rate hike in November.

Among individual names, Apple was especially notable this week, as China's iPhone ban for governmental officials sparked fear among shareholders of further restrictions. The tech giant's shares slid 5.1% this week.

Here's where US indexes stood at the 4:00 p.m. closing bell on Friday:

• S&P 500: 4,457.58, up 0.14%

• Dow Jones Industrial Average: 34,577.28, up 0.22% (+76.55 points)

• Nasdaq Composite: 13,761.53, up 0.09%

Here's what else is going on:

• Federal Reserve economists are opening up to the possibility of a goldilocks scenario.
• A Wall Street analyst put out a note defending Nvidia against a conspiracy theory making the rounds on Twitter.
• The founder of failed crypto exchange Thodex was sentenced to over 11,000 years in prison.
• Russia will sell China gas for half the price that European importers will have to pay.
• Texas' emergency-level heat wave caused power prices to jump 20,000% on Wednesday.

In commodities, bonds, and crypto:

• Oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate rose 0.5% to $87.31 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark, climbed 0.6% to $90.48 a barrel.
• Gold edged slightly higher to $1,942.70 an ounce.
• The 10-year Treasury yield inched down to 4.258%.
• Bitcoin was slightly higher at $25,881.