04:07 PM EDT, 07/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes ended mixed Tuesday as the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting got underway and investors awaited Microsoft's ( MSFT ) financial results.

* The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to announce its latest monetary policy decision Wednesday. Markets are widely expecting policymakers to hold interest rates steady, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors will be focused on the FOMC's statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference "for any indication or lean towards" a rate cut in September, Stifel said in a Tuesday note to clients.

* The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that job openings fell to 8.184 million in June from 8.230 million in May, while hiring declined to 5.341 million from 5.655 million, remaining well below the level of openings. At the same time, the number of people quitting jobs and those laid off also declined in the month.

* September West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed down $0.78 to settle at $75.03 per barrel, while September Brent crude was last seen down $0.87 to $78.91 on weak China demand and flagging investor interest in the commodity.

* PayPal ( PYPL ) shares gained 8.6% after the digital payments company reported stronger-than-expected increases in second-quarter results and sweetened its 2024 earnings guidance.

* CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) shares fell 9.7% following a media report that Delta Air Lines (DAL) had hired attorney David Boies to pursue potential damages from CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) and Microsoft ( MSFT ) following a global tech outage earlier this month.