04:48 PM EDT, 08/20/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes fell Tuesday as markets awaited minutes of the Federal Reserve's July monetary policy meeting.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3% to 17,816.9, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 lost 0.2% each to 40,835 and 5,597.1, respectively. Energy saw the steepest decline among sectors, down 2.7%, while consumer staples led the gainers.

The minutes of the Fed's July meeting are scheduled to be released Wednesday. At its meeting late last month, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%, its eighth straight pause. The FOMC said at the time that 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.

There's currently a 68% probability that the FOMC will cut rates by 25 basis points next month, with the remaining odds in the favor of a more aggressive 50-basis-point reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The US two-year yield fell 7.6 basis points to 3.99% Tuesday, while the 10-year rate decreased 5.7 basis points to 3.81%.

In company news, Boeing ( BA ) shares dropped 4.2%, the steepest decline on the Dow and among the worst on the S&P 500, as the planemaker said it paused testing of the 777X aircraft after discovering that a structural component performed unexpectedly during scheduled maintenance.

Lowe's (LOW) cut its full-year outlook due to lower-than-expected do-it-yourself business sales and a challenging macroeconomic environment after the home improvement retailer's fiscal second-quarter results fell year over year. Its shares closed 1.2% lower.

Palo Alto Networks ( PANW ) was the best performer on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, up 7.2%. 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 that Tirzepatide "significantly" lowered the risk of progression to type-2 diabetes in obese or overweight adults, based on data from a three-year study. The drugmaker's shares rose 3.1%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.7% to $73.82 a barrel.

Gold increased 0.5% to $2,554.40 per troy ounce, while silver gained 0.6% to $29.49 per ounce.