01:54 PM EST, 11/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes were mostly higher ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due at 2 pm ET.

The Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3% at 19,219.1 after midday Thursday, while the S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 5,964.4. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was little changed at 43,718.4. All three indexes closed at record highs Wednesday after Donald Trump defeated Kamala Harris to win the 2024 US presidential election, marking his return to the White House.

Among sectors, communication services and technology paced the gainers intraday Thursday, while financials saw the steepest decline.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to reduce its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference is scheduled for 2:30 pm ET.

"Bypassing November -- just two months after an outsized rate cut in September -- would likely be interpreted as an omission of a policy error," Stifel said in a note to clients.

The US 10-year yield was down 7.9 basis points at 4.35% intraday, while the two-year rate dropped 5.8 basis points to 4.21%.

In company news, Warner Bros. Discovery ( WBD ) logged the strongest quarterly gain in subscribers for its Max streaming platform in the September period, alongside surprise net income, even as revenue in the three months declined from a year earlier, dented by a weaker box office. The media and entertainment giant's shares surged 10%, the top performer on the Nasdaq and among the best on the S&P 500.

Viatris ( VTRS ) saw the biggest jump on the S&P 500, up 15%, following a third-quarter beat.

MercadoLibre ( MELI ) shares slumped 17%, the worst performer on the Nasdaq, after the company's third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street's views late Wednesday.

Match Group ( MTCH ) saw the steepest decline on the S&P 500 intraday Thursday, down 18%. Late Wednesday, the company issued a downbeat fourth-quarter revenue outlook following a third-quarter miss.

Arista Networks ( ANET ) , Airbnb ( ABNB ) , Monster Beverage ( MNST ) , Block (SQ), Pinterest ( PINS ) and DraftKings ( DKNG ) are among the major companies scheduled to report results after Thursday's closing bell.

West Texas Intermediate crude was up 1.4% at $72.67 a barrel intraday.

In economic news, weekly applications for unemployment insurance in the US rose for the first time in four weeks, while continuing claims reached the highest level since November 2021, according to government data.

Gold was up 1.1% at $2,705.40 per troy ounce, while silver rose 1.7% to $31.86 per ounce.