03:47 PM EDT, 07/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were struggling for direction ahead of Tuesday's close as the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting got underway and investors awaited Microsoft's ( MSFT ) financial results.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.3% at 17,141.7, while the S&P 500 fell 0.6% to 5,433.5. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 40,689.8. Among sectors, technology saw the steepest decline, while energy paced the gainers.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision Wednesday. Markets are widely expecting policymakers to hold interest rates steady, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

The US two-year yield fell 4.3 basis points to 4.38%, while the 10-year rate lost 3.1 basis points to 4.14%.

Tech giant Microsoft ( MSFT ) is scheduled to report its latest quarterly financial results after the closing bell, along with Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and others.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.1% to $74.99 a barrel.