05:01 PM EDT, 09/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 closed at all-time highs Monday as markets evaluated remarks by three Federal Reserve officials about the central bank's recent monetary policy decision.

The Dow rose 0.2% to 42,124.7, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% to 5,718.6. The Nasdaq Composite increased 0.1% to 17,974.3. Energy and consumer discretionary led the gainers among sectors, while health care saw the biggest drop.

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

The FOMC made the right decision, though future policy moves are likely to be determined by incoming economic data, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Monday.

Separately, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said he's "comfortable" with the 50-basis-point reduction in interest rates.

"To me, the specific timing of the initial cut is less important than the longer-arc view that conditions are good on both sides of the mandate," Goolsbee said. "Rates need to come down significantly going forward if we want the conditions to stay that way."

On Friday, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said the FOMC's decision could be interpreted as "a premature declaration of victory" against inflation. Bowman cast the sole dissenting vote at the meeting last week.

The US 10-year yield rose 2.3 basis points to 3.75% Monday, while the two-year rate increased 1.3 basis points to 3.59%.

In economic news, US private-sector output growth fell to a two-month low in September amid continued weakness in manufacturing, while the one-year headline outlook deteriorated sharply, according to S&P Global's (SPGI) flash purchasing managers' index.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.7% to $70.53 a barrel.

In company news, Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 4.9%, the top performer on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500. The electric vehicle maker's third-quarter deliveries are expected to come in ahead of initial expectations amid stronger incentives in China that have helped boost sales, Tudor Pickering Holt said in a note to clients.

Intel ( INTC ) was the best performer on the Dow and the second-best on the Nasdaq, up 3.3%. Apollo Global Management ( APO ) has offered to invest as much as $5 billion in the chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources. Apollo shares increased 0.6%.

Qualcomm ( QCOM ) previously approached Intel ( INTC ) for a possible takeover.

Moody's (MCO) shares fell 3.2%, the second-steepest decline on the S&P 500, as Raymond James downgraded the stock to underperform from market perform.

Costco Wholesale ( COST ) , Accenture ( ACN ) , Micron Technology ( MU ) , Cintas ( CTAS ) and AutoZone ( AZO ) are among the companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results later in the week.

Gold rose 0.2% to $2,652.60 per troy ounce, while silver fell 1.6% to $31 per ounce.