By Avantika Chilkoti 

U.S. stocks climbed Friday at the end of a week that featured an interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve and dramatic swings in crude prices after an attack on production facilities in Saudi Arabia.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2%. The S&P 500 added 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.1%.

Much of investors' focus this week has been whether the Fed -- internally divided and under pressure from President Donald Trump -- will continue to ease monetary policy and push stocks higher. The Dow and S&P 500 are less than 1% below their closing record highs reached in July.

In addition to cutting interest rates Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said it would consider at its next meeting whether it should allow its balance sheet to resume growth. The move wouldn't mark the start of a new bond-buying program as a stimulus measure, but a return to the normal precrisis practice of letting the Fed's balance sheet grow in line with the broader economy.

The Fed this week also stepped in to relieve funding pressure in money markets, after rates on short-term repurchase agreements briefly jumped to nearly 10%. The central bank pledged to give the financial system another $75 billion boost Friday.

The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasurys on Friday edged down to 1.772%, from 1.777% on Thursday. Bond yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Netflix was one of the worst-performing stocks in the S&P 500, down 5.7%. The streaming company has been under pressure in recent months amid a decline in its U.S. subscribers.

Overseas, the benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 gained 0.3%. In Asia, the Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei both rose 0.2%.

Rolls-Royce shares were among the biggest fallers in Europe, down 2.5% after the British engineering group warned that issues with its Trent 1000 engines would continue longer than expected.

U.S. crude oil futures rose 1% to $58.75 a barrel after days of major price swings. Following an attack on key production facilities, Saudi Arabia was reaching out to foreign producers to send crude to its domestic refineries, as part of the country's efforts to keep exports flowing.

"The price of oil might be capped due to the fundamental slowdown in growth we see around the world, whether that be Europe or the world's second-largest economy, China," said Marshall Stocker, director of country research at Eaton Vance.

Elsewhere in commodities, gold prices rose 0.3%.

Alexander Osipovich contributed to this article.

Write to Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 20, 2019 11:47 ET (15:47 GMT)

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