Stocks Ended Lower Friday, but Posted Weekly Gains

U.S. stocks closed near session lows on Friday, as a drop in oil prices dragged on energy shares, but finished the week higher, boosted by a lack of a rate hike from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131.01 points, or 0.71%, to 18,261.45, for a weekly gain of 0.8%. The S&P 500 was down 12.49 points, or 0.57%, to 2,164.69. The Nasdaq Composite fell 33.78 points, or 0.63%, to 5,305.75. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished the week up 1.2%.

Oil futures on Friday suffered from their worst one-day loss since mid-July, paring a weekly gain, after a Saudi Arabian delegate reportedly said oil producers aren’t likely to make a decision on production levels at a meeting next week.November West Texas Intermediate crude dropped $1.84, or about 4%, to settle at $44.48 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude for November delivery lost $1.76, or 3.7%, to $45.89 a barrel.

The Federal Reserve proposed Friday new restrictions on banks’ activities in physical-commodity markets such as aluminum and oil, aiming to minimize risks an environmental catastrophe could pose on the financial institution.

The social network site Twitter is talking with Salesforce.com, Google and others over a possible takeover of the company, people briefed on the discussions said on Friday.