US benchmark equity indexes were on track to close lower Thursday following the weekly unemployment insurance data and a day after the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1% to 41,921.9, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.5% to 17,662.7. The S&P 500 was down 0.3% to 5,657. The energy sector had the biggest gains while technology saw the steepest decline.

Darden Restaurants (DRI) was the top performer on the S&P 500 with shares up nearly 6%. Wells Fargo and Baird raised price targets on the company's stock, despite missing fiscal Q3 revenue estimates.

Jabil (JBL) increased its full-year outlook after reporting better-than-expected fiscal Q2 results. Its shares were up 3.3%.

Plus Therapeutics (PSTV) shares jumped nearly 189% after it said the US Food and Drug Administration conditionally accepted the proprietary name for its lead tumor therapy candidate.

Accenture (ACN) was the worst performer on the S&P 500 with shares dropping 7.5%. Chief Executive Julie Sweet said the company's revenue is being hurt by the Trump administration's efforts to slash US federal government costs.

The 10-year US Treasury yield lost 2.3 basis points to 4.23%, while the two-year rate was down 2 basis points to 3.96%.

May West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.9% at $68.20 a barrel.