03:51 PM EDT, 09/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes rose ahead of Monday's close as markets evaluated remarks by two Federal Reserve officials supporting the central bank's recent decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points.

The S&P 500 was up 0.3% at 5,719.5, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.2% each to 42,130.1 and 17,981, respectively. Among sectors, consumer discretionary led the gainers, while health care and technology eased.

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

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

The US 10-year yield rose 1.3 basis points to 3.74%, while the two-year rate increased one basis point to 3.58%.

AAR (AIR) is scheduled to report quarterly financial results after the closing bell. Costco Wholesale ( COST ) , Accenture ( ACN ) , Micron Technology ( MU ) , Cintas ( CTAS ) and AutoZone ( AZO ) will post results later in the week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.8% to $70.45 a barrel.