U.S. stocks ended lower after wavering in a tight range Friday, as investors pondered over the key inflation data ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 88.68 points, or 0.49 percent, to 18,123.80. The S&P 500 lost 8.10 points, or 0.38 percent, to 2,139.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 5.12 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5,244.57.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers increased 0.2 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis, beating market consensus of 0.1 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

Over the past 12 months, the all items index rose 1.1 percent before seasonal adjustment.

The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.3 percent in August, following a 0.1-percent increase in July.

"The combination of yesterday's higher than expected core PPI reading and today's consumer price beat has reversed some of yesterday's drop in long yields as market inflation expectations increased slightly," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, the preliminary reading of the consumer sentiment for September was unchanged at 89.8, missing market estimates, said the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment on Friday.

Investors also kept a close eye on the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting scheduled to begin on Sept. 20.

Financial markets have been choppy in recent sessions on contrasting remarks by Fed officials ahead of the central bank's meeting.

For the week, the blue-chip Dow inched up 0.2 percent, and the broader S&P 500 added 0.5 percent, while the tech-neqs surged 2.3 percent.

Source : XINHUA