03:49 PM EST, 12/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were mixed ahead of Monday's close as traders awaited the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision and key corporate earnings due later in the week.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3% at 20,184.7, while the S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 6,078.4. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 43,775.9. Among sectors, communication services and consumer discretionary paced the gainers, while energy saw the steepest decline.

Markets widely expect the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee to deliver a quarter-percentage-point reduction in its benchmark lending rate Wednesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. That would mark a second consecutive 25-basis-point decrease following a 50-basis-point reduction in September.

The US 10- and two-year yields were little changed at 4.40% and 4.24%, respectively.

Accenture ( ACN ) , Nike ( NKE ) , Micron Technology ( MU ) , Cintas ( CTAS ) , FedEx ( FDX ) , Lennar ( LEN ) , General Mills ( GIS ) and Carnival (CCL, CUK) are among the major companies scheduled to report their latest quarterly financial results later this week.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $70.57 a barrel.