01:09 PM EDT, 09/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded mixed while most government bond yields rose after midday on Wednesday as investors weighed the housing market data.

The S&P 500 slid 0.1% to 5,726.4, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.5% to 41,978.8 after scaling new peaks earlier in the session. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.1% to 18,091.5. Utilities and technology led the gainers, while energy and health care were the steepest decliners.

In economic news, mortgage applications surged 11% during the week ended Sept. 20 to their highest since July 2022, boosted by an eighth weekly drop in mortgage rates, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. Applications for refinancing loans soared 20% from the previous week, while new purchase applications increased by a seasonally adjusted 1%.

Meanwhile, US new-home sales fell to a 716,000 annual rate in August from an upwardly revised 751,000 rate in July, compared with the 700,000 rate expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Home sales were still up 9.8% from a year ago. The supply of homes for sale rose 1.7% to 467,000, up 9.1% from a year ago.

Most US Treasury yields rose, with the 10-year yield up 3.7 basis points to 3.77% and the two-year rate 2.5 basis points higher at 3.54%.

Gold was fractionally up at $2,677.70 an ounce after touching a new intraday high of 2,694.89. Silver fell 1.5% to $31.94.

The precious metal has jumped since the Federal Reserve cut US interest rates for the first time in four years last week and indicated it expects to cut rates by a further 50 points by year-end. Lower interest rates cut the carrying cost of owning gold, which pays no interest. Geopolitical turmoil is also supporting gold prices on concern that fighting will spread in the Middle East as fighting between Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militia and Israel intensifies.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil slumped 2.6% to $69.73 a barrel.

"Crude has so failed to gain a foothold above key levels, in WTI around USD 72 and USD 75 in Brent, despite Middle East tensions, API reporting a drop in US crude stockpiles to a two-year low, and China stimulus as it is not clear whether the measures will translate into higher energy demand," Saxo Bank said in a note.

In company news, Barclays upgraded Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) to overweight from equal-weight while adjusting its price target to $24 from $20. Shares of the technology giant were trading up 4.7% intraday, among the top performers on the S&P 500.

Global Payments ( GPN ) said Wednesday that it expects adjusted earnings growth of about 10% in 2025, rising to the low teens in each of the following two years. Shares of the company slumped 5.7% intraday, among the worst performers on the S&P 500.

General Motors ( GM ) and Ford Motor ( F ) shares dropped 5.4% and 3.9%, respectively, among the steepest decliners on the S&P 500. The share-price drop follows downgrades by Morgan Stanley, which expects "greater share loss through end of decade (lower normalized units), price/mix headwinds, China, regulatory compliance," and other risk factors.