04:00 PM EST, 11/04/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended lower Monday ahead of the presidential election and the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due later in the week.

* The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is slated to begin its two-day meeting Wednesday, with a decision on interest rates expected Thursday.

* Markets are widely expecting policymakers to lower their benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

* Factory new orders fell by 0.5% in September, as expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, with transportation orders down 3.1% and the remaining categories combining for a 0.1% gain. Durable goods orders were revised up to a 0.7% drop from the 0.8% decrease in the advance estimate, while nondurable goods new orders fell by 0.2%.

* December West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $1.98 to settle at $71.47 per barrel, while January Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.93 to $75.03 after OPEC+ again delayed plans to increase production, while geopolitical risk heightens as Iran promises fresh attacks on Israel and the US election looms.

* Salesforce ( CRM ) shares rose 1.3% as Evercore ISI adjusted its price target on the stock to $400 from $300.

* Intel ( INTC ) fell 2.9%. Late Friday, S&P Global ( SPGI ) division S&P Dow Jones Indices said Nvidia ( NVDA ) will replace Intel ( INTC ) on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, effective Nov. 8. Nvidia ( NVDA ) shares were up 0.8%.