02:18 PM EDT, 09/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were mixed intraday as traders assessed remarks by two Federal Reserve governors.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.2% at 17,969.9 after midday Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 5,707.2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2% to 42,113.7. Among sectors, materials and industrials saw the steepest declines, while utilities paced the gainers.

On Wednesday, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75% to 5%.

Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said Friday she preferred a smaller 25-basis-point cut at the meeting.

"Although it is important to recognize that there has been meaningful progress on lowering inflation, while core inflation remains around or above 2.5%, I see the risk that the committee's larger policy action could be interpreted as a premature declaration of victory on our price stability mandate," Bowman said.

Separately, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he was in the 50-basis-point-cut camp because "inflation is softening much faster than I thought it was going to," CNBC reported.

The FOMC's Summary of Economic Projections showed Wednesday that policymakers trimmed their median federal funds rate outlooks from 2024 through 2026 while raising their unemployment rate expectations.

"After a bit of a digestion period, investors are now praising the Fed's 'recalibration' of policy," Stifel said in a Friday note to clients. "Following a larger, more aggressive (50-basis-point) cut out of the gate, the market now seems to be anticipating a rush back to accommodation, as opposed to policy simply resetting from restrictive back to neutral."

The US two-year yield fell three basis points to 3.57% intraday, while the 10-year rate lost 1.9 basis points to 3.72%.

In company news, FedEx ( FDX ) shares were down 13%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500. The parcel delivery company's fiscal first-quarter results unexpectedly declined year over year late Thursday amid weak demand trends.

Constellation Energy ( CEG ) signed a 20-year power purchase deal with Microsoft ( MSFT ) that would result in the energy company restarting the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania to help power the technology giant's data centers with carbon-free energy. Constellation shares jumped 20% intraday Friday, the best performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, while Microsoft ( MSFT ) fell 0.4%.

Nike ( NKE ) was the top gainer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500, up 6.5%. Late Thursday, the athletic footwear and apparel maker announced that John Donahoe will retire as chief executive next month, with former longtime company executive Elliott Hill returning to lead the company.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.4% to $72.26 a barrel intraday.

Gold was up 1.2% at $2,645.70 per troy ounce, while silver increased 0.2% to $31.5 per ounce.