02:14 PM EDT, 05/08/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were mixed intraday, as markets assessed comments by a Federal Reserve official and the latest corporate earnings.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 0.3% at 16,279.1 after midday Wednesday, while the S&P 500 fell 0.1% to 5,181.8. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% to 38,797.6. Among sectors, real estate led the decliners, while utilities paced the gainers.

Boston Fed President Susan Collins said that although she's committed to bringing inflation back to the central bank's 2% target, there's "significant uncertainty" around that outlook. "Recent data lead me to believe this will take more time than previously thought," Collins said.

On Monday, New York Fed President John Williams reportedly said the central bank's monetary policy was in a "very good place," adding that policymakers will eventually cut rates at some point.

The Federal Open Market Committee started tightening monetary policy in March 2022 to tame inflation, increasing interest rates by 525 basis points through July 2023.

The US 10-year yield increased 2.7 basis points to 4.49% intraday, while the two-year rate grew 1.1 basis points to 4.84%.

In company news, Uber Technologies ( UBER ) logged an unexpected first-quarter loss, weighed down by its equity investments, while the ride hailing company's gross bookings fell short of analysts' estimates. The company's shares were down 8.7%, the steepest decline on the S&P 500.

Vistra ( VST ) was the best performer on the S&P 500, up nearly 11%, after the company's first-quarter operating revenue topped Wall Street's expectations.

Arista Networks ( ANET ) was the second-top gainer on the S&P 500, up 7.1%. The cloud networking company late Tuesday posted stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter, with gains recorded in both product and service revenue.

Airbnb ( ABNB ) , Trade Desk ( TTD ) , TKO Group ( TKO ) and News Corp. ( NWSA ) are among the major companies scheduled to report after Wednesday's closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.7% to $78.90 per barrel intraday.

In economic news, mortgage applications in the US rebounded for the first time in three weeks, as rates across all loan types fell following a weaker-than-expected jobs report last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Gold was down 0.1% at $2,322.30 per troy ounce, while silver rose 0.3% to $27.63 per ounce.