12:51 PM EDT, 05/21/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes traded moderately higher Tuesday as more Federal Reserve officials opined on the path ahead for interest rates while investors awaited Nvidia's (NVDA) quarterly earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average at 39,814.6, the S&P 500 at 5,308.2 and the Nasdaq Composite at 16,796.3, all climbed less than 1%. Technology and utilities led the gainers, while industrials and materials were among the decliners intraday.

Investors are refraining from placing big bets given that Nvidia's (NVDA) earnings are due Wednesday, according to a note from D.A. Davidson. S&P 500 is up 11% year to date, with Nvidia's 91% gain accounting for a quarter of the index's year-to-date jump, Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Meanwhile, Fed officials are raising concerns about the path ahead for interest rates before the release Wednesday of the Federal Open Market Committee's minutes from its last meeting, the D.A. Davidson note said.

While there has been progress on inflation recently, including the softer-than-expected April inflation data, there needs to be more evidence of a slowdown before the FOMC can consider easing policy, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Tuesday in prepared remarks to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester Monday mentioned the possibility of raising rates if appropriate, but clarified that it is not the base case, Saxo Bank said in a note. She also indicated reasons to believe that the neutral rate may be higher than it used to be and expressed skepticism about a quick decrease in inflation, as per the note.

The US 10-year Treasury yield fell 3.1 basis points to 4.41%, and the two-year rate slipped 1.5 basis points to 4.82%.

In economic news, Redbook US same-store sales rose by 5.5% from a year earlier in the week ended May 18 after a 6.3% year-over-year increase in the previous week.

In company news, Keysight Technologies ( KEYS ) slumped 10%, the worst performer on the S&P 500, as the company's fiscal Q3 guidance fell short of market estimates.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell 1.3% to $78.80 a barrel.