03:52 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were down ahead of Wednesday's close after the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.1% at 17,602.7, while the S&P 500 decreased 0.3% to 5,617.4. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2% to 41,508.8. Among sectors, energy was the only gainer, while utilities saw the steepest decline.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee reduced interest rates to a range of 4.75% to 5%, versus a Bloomberg-compiled consensus indicating a 5% to 5.25% range.

"The committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," the FOMC said in a Wednesday statement after its two-day meeting.

The US 10-year yield rose 5.8 basis points to 3.7%, while the two-year rate increased 3.4 basis points to 3.63%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.1% to $70.43 a barrel.