Dow Jones Industrial Average Fluctuates As Wall Street Weighs The Federal Reserve's Looming Rate-Hike Decision

U.S. stocks closed higher Friday after fluctuating during afternoon trading as investors weighed a series of mixed data and earnings reports, pointing to expectations the Federal Reserve will delay a rate hike this year. The likelihood of the Fed hiking borrowing costs before the end of 2015 diminished again this week after two top Fed officials came out strongly in favor of delaying a rate hike until next year, while mixed retail sales and inflation data triggered sizable downgrades to estimates of third-quarter gross domestic product growth.