Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell held a virtual Fed Listens panel with a several analysts and experts.

Powell stated that he had never seen these kind of supply-chain issues, never seen an economy that combines drastic labor shortages with lots of unemployed people and a lot of slack in the labor market.

Powell added that the Fed is following all the released economic data, and is listening to companies in different sectors.

Jerome Powell stated before that he expected the Fed to start reducing emergency pandemic support in November.

Most US stock indices closed higher on Friday, lifted by the Federal Reserve's statement, and posted weekly gains.

The US Federal Reserve has kept the interest rate between zero and 0.25% unchanged, but projected to raise it 3 times in 2023 and 3 more times in 2024, to reach 1.8% by the end of 2024.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that he expected the Fed to start reducing the bond-buying program and emergency pandemic support in November.

Powell stated that he had never seen these kind of supply-chain issues, never seen an economy that combines drastic labor shortages with lots of unemployed people and a lot of slack in the labor market.

To the oil market, WTI crude October futures rose 0.9% or 68 cents, and closed at $73.98 a barrel, and posted a weekly gain of 2.8%.

Brent November futures rose rose 1.1% or 84 cents, and closed at $78.09 a barrel, with a weekly gain of 3.6%.

As for stocks, Dow Jones rose 0.1% or 33 points, and closed at 34,798, and posted a weekly gain of 0.6%, with a day high of 34,857, and a low of 34,648.

S&P 500 rose 0.1% or 6 points to 4,455, near the last Friday's close, after hitting a high of 4,463 and a low of 4,430 points.

Nasdaq fell 0.1% or 4 points to 15,047, and registered a 0.5% weekly loss, with a high of 15,067 and a low of 14,946.

Silver prices fell on Friday, despite the US dollar's drop against most major currencies, amid the lingering concerns over Evergrande crisis.

The US Federal Reserve has kept the interest rate between zero and 0.25% unchanged, but projected to raise it 3 times in 2023 and 3 more times in 2024, to reach 1.8% by the end of 2024.

The Fed Chairman stated that he expected the Fed to start reducing the bond-buying program in November.

The dollar index fell against a basket of currencies by 0.2% to 93.2 points as of 19:42 GMT, after it hit a high of 93.4 points and a low of 93.05 points.

As of 19:42 GMT, silver spot prices fell 1.4% to $22.3 an ounce, with a high at $22.7 and a low at $22.09.

Baker Hughes Co. reported today that the number of US oil rigs rose by 10 to 421 rigs this week.

The number of natural gas rigs fell by 1 to 99 rigs, with the total number of natural gas and oil rising by 9 to 520 rigs.