04:00 PM EDT, 09/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended mixed Monday as markets awaited the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy decision due later in the week.

* The Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting is scheduled to kick off Tuesday, with a decision on its benchmark lending rate expected Wednesday.

* There's currently a 41% probability that the FOMC will cut interest rates by 25 basis points, with the remaining odds in the favor of a more aggressive 50-basis-point reduction, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

* New York manufacturing activity grew this month for the first time since November as orders and shipments increased substantially, the New York Federal Reserve said.

* October West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $1.55 to settle at $70.06 per barrel, while November Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $1.16 at $72.77 as tight supply on reduced output from the Gulf of Mexico and Libya offset further weak economic data from China ahead of expected US interest-rate cuts this week.

* Apple ( AAPL ) shares were down 2.7% as reports suggested that demand for the tech giant's recently announced iPhone 16 is lower than expected.

* Boeing ( BA ) is implementing a hiring freeze and planning to make sizable reductions in supplier expenditures, Bloomberg News reported, citing a memo to employees from Chief Financial Officer Brian West. The plane maker's shares fell 0.7%.