01:56 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were up 0.1% each after midday Wednesday. The Dow and the S&P 500 reached 41,627.7 and 5,638.7, respectively, while the Nasdaq was at 17,640.3. Among sectors, energy paced the gainers, while utilities saw the steepest decline.

The Fed's monetary policy committee is due to announce its rate decision at 2 pm ET, with Chair Jerome Powell to hold a press conference at 2:30 pm.

Currently, there is a 57% chance that the Federal Open Market Committee will reduce its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points, with the remaining odds in the favor of a 25-basis-point reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

"Given the lack of weakness in (recent economic) data, the Fed is more likely to maintain a base case of quarter-point cuts beginning today with a consideration but not a commitment to rate reductions at every subsequent meeting," Stifel said in a note to clients.

The US two-year yield rose 4.8 basis points to 3.64% intraday, while the 10-year rate increased 3.5 basis points to 3.68%.

In economic news, US housing starts increased more than expected last month amid double-digit sequential gains in single-family projects, according to government data.

"After likely being weighed down by Hurricane Beryl in July, housing starts rebounded more than expected in August, and the forward-looking permits data point to additional gains in starts in the months ahead," Oxford Economics said.

Weekly mortgage applications in the US jumped as the 30-year fixed rate for conforming loan balances fell to its lowest level since September 2022, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

"Application activity was up significantly last week, as market expectations of a rate cut from the Fed pulled mortgage rates lower," said Joel Kan, the association's deputy chief economist.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1% to $70.45 a barrel intraday.

In company news, General Motors ( GM ) said its electric vehicle customers will be able to access Tesla's (TSLA) Supercharger network using a specific GM-approved adapter. GM shares were up 2.6%, among the top performers on the S&P 500, while Tesla rose 1.3%.

IPhone maker Apple ( AAPL ) was the top Dow performer and among the best on the S&P 500, up 2.1%.

Resmed ( RMD ) shares fell 5.3%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500, as Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to underperform from peer perform.

Gold was up 0.3% at $2,599.30 per troy ounce, while silver dropped 0.9% to $30.7 per ounce.