03:50 PM EDT, 08/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes rose ahead of Wednesday's close after minutes from the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting indicated that an interest rate cut in September is likely.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3% at 17,877.4, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2% to 5,609.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.1% to 40,862.8. Among sectors, materials and consumer discretionary led the gainers, while financials and communication services posted losses.

A "vast majority" of policymakers indicated last month that an interest rate cut in September would likely be appropriate if new data continued to be in line with expectations, minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's July 30-31 meeting showed Wednesday.

The US two-year yield was down 6.9 basis points at 3.93%, while the 10-year rate lost 2.6 basis points to 3.79%.

Synopsys ( SNPS ) , Snowflake (SNOW), Zoom Video Communications ( ZM ) and Urban Outfitters ( URBN ) are among the companies scheduled to report financial results after the closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 1.7% to $71.95 a barrel.