Stocks ended the week lower as the earnings season winds down and investors focus on when the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates next.

MACRO NEWS: In the U.S., the Fed released the minutes from last month's FOMC meeting, showing officials were split on whether a rate hike is needed soon. U.S. Housing Market Index data for August came in at 60, in line with estimates. U.S. housing starts rose 2.1% to 1.211M in July, while building permits slipped 0.1%. The U.S. consumer price index was flat in July, with the core rate up 0.1%. U.S. industrial production rose 0.7% in July versus 0.3% increase expected. U.S. crude inventories showed a 2.5M draw for the week of August 12 versus consensus of 950,000 build. U.S. initial jobless claims fell 4,000 to 262,000 in the week of August 13. U.S. Philly Fed manufacturing index rose 4.9 points to 2.0 in August. U.S. leading indicators rose 0.4% in July versus consensus of 0.2%. Baker Hughes reported that U.S. rig count is up 10 rigs from last week to 491... In Europe, U.K. consumer price index measure of inflation rose to 0.6% in July. U.K. unemployment claimant count fell 8,600 to 763,600 in July. U.K. retail sales rise 1.4% in July. The German ZEW index of economic sentiment rose to 0.5 in August.

COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Apple (AAPL) started the week in positive territory after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) disclosed in a SEC filing that it increased its stake in the iPhone maker, while cutting its stake in Wal-Mart (WMT)... Shares of Twitter (TWTR) rallied on Monday after the New York Times said the company was in talks to launch on Apple TV. However, the stock would shed the gains following a downgraded to Sell by research firm Evercore ISI... Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX) rose on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley turned bullish on the shares and upgraded the stock. However, the rally did not last long, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that T. Rowe Price (TROW) filed a lawsuit alleging the drugmaker engaged in a "fraudulent scheme" that cost investors billions of dollars. Valeant was not the only pharmaceutical on the spotlight. Mylan (MYL) came under heat after several media outlets reported on the price hikes of its EpiPen device... Private prison stocks Corrections Corp. Of America (CXW) and Geo Group (GEO) dropped on Thursday following reports saying that the Justice Department plans to end its reliance on the industry as private facilities "simply do not provide the same level of correctional services." Conversely, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rose after the company provided additional architectural details and a first look at the performance of its next-generation, high-performance "Zen" processor core... Shares of dialysis service providers DaVita (DVA), Fresenius Medical (FMS), and American Renal Associates (ARA) ended the trading week in the red after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it was seeking public comments to determine whether some health care providers, in an effort to obtain higher profits, have been encouraging patients to apply for insurance coverage through Obamacare exchanges instead. The agency sent letters about the issue to "all Medicare-enrolled dialysis facilities and centers." In M&A news, Post Properties (PPS) agreed to merge with MAA (MAA) for roughly $4B... Providence and Worcester Railroad (PWX) announced an acquisition by Genesee & Wyoming (GWR), while water technology company Xylem (XYL) acquired Sensus... Cintas Corporation (CTAS) and G&K Services (GK) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Cintas will acquire all outstanding shares of G&K Services for $97.50 per share in cash... Among companies that announced quarterly results this week, Urban Outfitters (URBN), Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS), Wal-Mart, L Brands (LB), NetApp (NTAP), Applied Materials (AMAT), Foot Locker (FL) and Deere (DE) advanced following their reports, while TJX (TJX), American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), Advance Auto Parts (AAP), Target (TGT), Cree (CREE), Popeyes (PLKI), Staples (SPLS), and Estee Lauder (EL) declined... Hain Celestial (HAIN) announced a delay in its quarterly earnings report because of an accounting issue and said it did not expect to reach prior targets for fiscal year 2016.

INDEXES: The Dow lost about 0.14% to close at 18,552.57, the S&P 500 fell about 0.02% to close at 2,183.87, and the Nasdaq rose about 0.09% to close at 5,238.38.