01:51 PM EDT, 05/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark stock indexes traded mixed ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy statement Wednesday as investors awaited more clarity on the future path of interest rates this year.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% to 5,025.7, with the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3% to 15,614.9 after midday on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4% to 37,970.9. Utilities and communication services led the gainers, while energy was the steepest decliner intraday.

The Federal Reserve will, later on Wednesday, likely leave interest rates unchanged for the sixth consecutive meeting. However, investors will watch out for any guidance from Chair Jerome Powell on the path ahead for rates in this presidential election year. According to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, the Fed will probably remain on hold until September.

"With no updated Summary of Economic Projections, any adjustments to the statement as well as the comments from Chair Powell's press conference will be the key components for investors to scrutinize in terms of tone, focus, and forward guidance," Stifel Chief Economist Lindsey Piegza said in a note.

Unlike Tuesday's higher-than-expected wage growth data, the weak manufacturing and jobs Wednesday will likely set a helpful backdrop for Powell as he fields questions from the media on the latest monetary policy stance later on Wednesday.

US job openings fell to 8.488 million in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a report Wednesday, lower than the 8.690 million openings expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg and down from the 8.813 million openings reported in February.

The Institute for Supply Management's US manufacturing index fell to 49.2 in April from 50.3 in March, below expectations for 50 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.5 basis points to 4.65%, and the two-year rate declined 3 basis points to 5.02%, reflecting the soft macroeconomic data.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped 3.5% to $79.08 a barrel.

Excluding inventories in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the US commercial crude oil stocks jumped 7.3 million barrels sequentially during the week ended April 26 following a 6.4-million-barrel drop in the previous week, and compared with the 2.5-million-barrel decline anticipated in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

In company news, Bio-Techne's ( TECH ) shares soared 15.6% intraday, the top performer on the S&P 500, after the company reported fiscal Q3 adjusted earnings and net sales that beat the average analyst estimates compiled by Capital IQ.

The worst performer on the index was Starbucks (SBUX), trading 17.3% lower. The company reported lower fiscal Q2 adjusted earnings and sales that also missed the market's expectations.

The second-worst performer on the index was CVS Health ( CVS ) , down 16.1%. The company cut its full-year forecast after a weaker-than-expected Q1, dragged down by utilization pressure in the healthcare company's Medicare Advantage business.