04:00 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended lower Wednesday as the Federal Open Market Committee lowered the target range for the federal funds rate.

* The Federal Reserve eased its policy rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75% to 5% and the updated Summary of Economic Projections points to an additional 50 basis points of reduction this year and 100 basis points of reduction next year.

Revisions to SEP show slower GDP and inflation growth this year and a higher end-of-year unemployment rate than in the previous estimate in June.

* The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 14.2% surge in mortgage applications in the week ended Sept. 13 after a 1.4% gain in the previous week. Refinancing activity and new home applications both jumped due to a further drop in mortgage rate due to a nearly two-year low.

* October West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $0.28 to settle at $70.91 per barrel, while November Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.08 at $73.78 as a report showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. oil inventories.

* 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 2.3%.

* Resmed ( RMD ) shares fell 5.5% as Wolfe Research downgraded the stock to underperform from peer perform.