Halted U.S debt ceiling talks between the White House and Republicans pushed stocks into red territory this afternoon, but comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell indicating a smaller-than-expected interest rate hike may be possible kept pessimism in check. 

While the Dow shed 109 points on the day, it still marked its first positive week this month. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also saw daily losses, but the latter marked its fourth consecutive weekly win, with both indexes also logging their best percentage gains on the week since March.

WEEKLY WIN FOR OIL, LOSS FOR GOLD

Oil prices settled lower on Friday as U.S. debt ceiling negotiations faced roadblocks, denting energy demand optimism, but still saw a 2.2% weekly win -- their first positive week in five. June-dated crude shed 31 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $71.55 per barrel on the day.

Meanwhile, gold prices were higher today, but finished well below the $2,000 level after the yellow metal had its worst weekly loss since Feb. 3. June-dated gold rose $21.80, or 1.1%, to close at $1,981.60 an ounce on the day, but shed 1.9% this week.

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