US benchmark equity indexes were higher intraday as traders assessed remarks by two Federal Reserve officials supporting the central bank's recent decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points. The S&P 500 was up 0.2% at 5,712.5 after midday Monday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.1% each to 42,106.1 and 17,957.6, respectively.
Among sectors, consumer discretionary led the gainers, while health care and technology were in the red. On Wednesday, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee lowered its benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75% to 5%. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said Monday that the FOMC made the right decision at the meeting, though future policy moves are likely to be determined by incoming economic data. "My residual concern about inflation might have led me to settle on a relatively small first move last week -- say, 25 basis points," Bostic, an FOMC voting member this year, said.
"But such a move would belie growing uncertainty about the trajectory of the labor market." On Friday, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman said the FOMC's decision could be interpreted as "a premature declaration of victory" against inflation. The US two-year yield fell one basis point to 3.57% intraday Monday, while the 10-year rate was little changed at 3.73%. In economic news, US private-sector output growth fell to a two-month low in September amid continued weakness in manufacturing, while the one-year headline outlook deteriorated sharply, according to S&P Global's flash purchasing managers' index. West Texas Intermediate crude oil dropped 0.9% to $70.9 a barrel intraday. In company news, Tesla shares rose 4.1%, the top performer on the Nasdaq and the second-best on the S&P 500, as Tudor Pickering Holt raised the electric vehicle maker's delivery estimates for the third quarter. Intel was the best performer on the Dow and among the best on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq, up 4%.
Apollo Global Management has offered to invest as much as $5 billion in the chipmaker, Bloomberg News reported, citing unnamed sources. Apollo shares were up 0.7% intraday Monday. Qualcomm previously approached Intel for a possible takeover. CSX shares were down 2.4%, among the steepest declines on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq. AAR is scheduled to report its latest quarterly financial results after Monday's closing bell.
Costco Wholesale, Accenture, Micron Technology, Cintas and AutoZone will post results later in the week. Gold was up 0.2% at $2,652.20 per troy ounce, while silver fell 1.3% to $31.1 per ounce..