U.S. stocks declined Friday as investment fears heightened surrounding the health of the global economy and the warning signs of a slowdown. China's economic growth reports show the the world's second largest economy slumped to an almost 30-year-low. U.S. domestic growth reports for September did not fair better, for signs show that the world's largest economy is growing at a much slower pace than expected.

Here's how the stock market settled at the end of the week:

S&P 500 Index (SPY): -0.39% or 11.75 points

Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA): -0.95% or 255.68 points

NASDAQ Composite Average (QQQ): -0.83% or 67.31 points

China's gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 6% in the three months that ended in September, which is the slowest pace for the country since 1992. Despite the country's GDP slowdown, other areas of the eastern economy have recently picked up pace, these including: Industrial production increasing 5.8% over last year and retail sales, which grew 8.2% for the year in September.

The U.S. economy does not seem to be growing much better in the negative trade climate; the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index (LEI) has fallen for the second consecutive month, showing signs of an unhealthy domestic growth. Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economic research for The Conference Board stated that the decline was due to "weaknesses in the manufacturing sector and the interest rate spread...the LEI reflects uncertainty in the outlook and falling business expectations, brought on by the downturn in the industrial sector and trade disputes."

In Stock Sector news, there is a good mix of gainers and losers today, demonstrating the continued volatility of the current market. The gainers include Real Estate +0.98%, Utilities +0.37%, Financials +0.23%, and Consumer Staples +0.19%. The sectors that are on the decline at the end of the trading week are Information Technology -0.91%, Communication Services -0.87%, Industrials -0.87%, Energy -0.54%, Health Care -0.34%, Consumer Discretionary -0.32%, and Materials -0.10%.

In Commodity news, crude prices have begun another decline today, with West Texas Intermediate slipping around 0.37%, making barrel prices around $54. Brent Crude also is on the slow decline, with barrel prices costing around 459 after a 0.24% drop. Gold prices have also started to slope, with a price per ounce change of 0.33%, pricing the precious metal at $1,493.40.

Though the recently released economic data for both China and the U.S. demonstrates weak growth caused by tensions imposed from the relentless trade war, Ozyildirim stated that "looking ahead, the LEI (for the U.S.) is consistent with an economy that is still growing, albeit more slowly, through the end of the year and into 2020." In other words, though the current trade climate has vastly reduced growth, the U.S. is still growing economically, which is a positive outcome for global trade.