01:16 PM EDT, 05/22/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes eased ahead of the monetary policy minutes from the Federal Reserve and Nvidia's ( NVDA ) quarterly earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 39,844.4, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.1% to 5,318.4 after midday. The Nasdaq Composite was little changed at 16,827.9, erasing earlier gains. Health care led a trio of gainers, while energy and materials paced the decliners.

The Federal Reserve will post minutes of its May policy session at 2 pm ET, which investors will parse for clues on interest-rate moves by the central bank.

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said Tuesday she would like to see "a few more months of inflation data that looks like it's coming down" before reducing rates, according to a note from Stifel. Boston Fed President Susan Collins said, "I think this is a moment or a period when patience really matters. I think the data has been very mixed," the note said.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings are due after the bell on Wednesday.

The US 10-year Treasury yield rose less than one basis point to 4.42%, and the two-year rate jumped 3.2 basis points to 4.87%.

In economic news, the pace of US existing home sales fell 1.9% to a 4.14 million seasonally adjusted annual rate in April from 4.22 million in March, compared with expectations for an increase to 4.23 million in a survey compiled by Bloomberg, data from the National Association of Realtors showed. Total sales slid 1.9% from a year earlier.

In company news, Enphase Energy ( ENPH ) said Tuesday it launched its IQ8 solar microinverters in Finland. The company said the inverters support higher-powered modules and include a 25-year warranty. Shares of the company surged 11%, among the top gains on the S&P.

Target's ( TGT ) fiscal Q1 earnings unexpectedly declined, while the retailer issued downbeat bottom-line guidance at the midpoint for the current three-month period. Shares slumped 6.7%, the second-biggest drop on the S&P.

Lululemon Athletica ( LULU ) said late Tuesday that Jonathan Cheung, global creative director, will drive its product design and innovation roadmap while continuing to oversee design, innovation, and product development following the departure of Sun Choe, the chief product officer. Shares dropped 7.4% intraday, the biggest drop on the Nasdaq.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 0.6% to $78.16 a barrel.

US commercial crude oil stocks, excluding inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, rose 1.8 million barrels in the week ended May 17 following a drop of 2.5 million in the previous week, compared with a 2 million decrease expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

Gold slumped 1.3% to $2,394.41 an ounce, and silver dropped 1.7% to $31.53.