02:02 PM EDT, 08/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were lower after midday Tuesday as markets awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting, scheduled to be released Wednesday.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.5% at 17,787.8 intraday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3% to 5,591.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.2% to 40,830.5. Among sectors, energy saw the steepest decline, down 2.2%, while consumer staples, health care, and communication services were in the green.

Late last month, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%, its eighth straight pause, and said inflation remained "somewhat elevated" despite having eased over the last year.

Policymakers started increasing interest rates in March 2022 to tame inflation, with their last rate hike coming in July 2023.

Markets will also be closely watching Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on Friday at the annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for clues regarding potential monetary easing.

The US two-year yield fell 6.8 basis points to 4% intraday, while the 10-year rate decreased 4.5 basis points to 3.82%.

In company news, Boeing ( BA ) shares were down 4.5%, the steepest decline on the Dow and among the steepest on the S&P 500, as the plane maker said it is grounding its 777X test fleet after finding cracks in an engine mounting structure.

Lowe's (LOW) cut its full-year outlook due to lower-than-expected do-it-yourself business sales and a challenging macroeconomic environment, while the home improvement retailer's fiscal second-quarter results fell year over year. Its shares were down 1.5%.

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) was the best performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, up 8.8%. The cybersecurity firm late Monday logged a surprise increase in its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings as its revenue came in stronger than expected.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said Tuesday its weight-loss drug "significantly" lowered the risk of progression to type-2 diabetes in obese or overweight adults, based on data from a late-stage three-year study. The drugmaker's shares were up 2.1%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500.

Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) , Toll Brothers ( TOL ) and Coty ( COTY ) are among the companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results after Tuesday's closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.5% to $74.02 a barrel intraday.

Gold was up 0.4% at $2,550.30 per troy ounce, while silver gained 0.8% to $29.53 per ounce.