US stocks closed lower on Friday after negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling in Washington were paused, denting optimism for a deal. The two previous sessions had seen stock market rallies due to growing confidence in reaching an agreement but the optimism was reversed on Friday after talks were halted and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke at a monetary policy panel, raising uncertainty about interest rates. For the week, the Dow gained 0.38%, the S&P 500 climbed by 1.65% and the Nasdaq advanced by 3.04%, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posting their biggest weekly percentage gains since March.