US stocks keep rising on Fed minutes' cues

US stocks ended mildly higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notching a six-session winning streak, as investors continued to digest minutes from the US Federal Reserve's September meeting.

The Dow rose 33.74 points (0.20 percent) to 17,084.49, Xinhua news agency reported.

The S&P 500 edged up 1.46 points (0.07 percent) to 2,014.89. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 19.68 points (0.41 percent) to 4,830.47.

According to the minute's release on Thursday, policymakers were concerned about reaching their inflation target of two percent and the impact of the global economic slowdown.

"So, the minutes showed a Fed mired in indecision, erring on the side of dovishness," said Stephen Guilfoyle, managing director at Deep Value, on Friday.

New York Fed President William Dudley said the international developments in August and financial developments in the month raised some questions about the strength of the global outlook.

On the economic front, import prices edged down 0.1 percent in September, less than market expectations of a 0.4 percent drop, said the US Labour Department on Friday.

However, export prices declined 0.7 percent, more than the 0.2 percent estimate by analysts.

In corporate news, shares of Alcoa tumbled 6.81 percent to $10.26 apiece on Friday, as the company posted weaker-than-expected quarterly results after Thursday's closing bell.

The metals firm reported third quarter 2015 net income of $44 million or $0.02 per share, compared with a net income of $149 million or $0.12 per share, in third quarter 2014.

On a weekly basis, all three major indices witnessed solid gains, with the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq surging 3.7 percent, 3.3 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.