US benchmark equity indexes were lower intraday amid declines in certain mega-cap stocks.

The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.9% at 19,635.5 after midday Friday, while the S&P 500 fell 1.4% to 5,950.2. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1% to 42,874.5. All sectors were lower, led by consumer discretionary and technology.

Shares of chip-making giant Nvidia (NVDA) fell 2.6%, the steepest decline on the Dow. Tech majors Microsoft (MSFT) and Apple (AAPL) were among the worst performers on the Dow, along with e-commerce giant Amazon.com (AMZN).

Electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) saw the biggest drop on the Nasdaq and the second-biggest on the S&P 500, down 4.6%.

Lamb Weston (LW) shareholder Jana Partners has added Jeff Delapp to its slate of nominees for a potential overhaul of the frozen potato products supplier's board. Lamb Weston shares were up 4%, the best performer on the S&P 500.

UnitedHealth Group (UNH) and Amedisys (AMED) agreed to extend the deadline of their proposed merger as the deal faces scrutiny from the US Department of Justice over competition concerns. Amedisys shares were up 4.7%, while UnitedHealth fell 0.6%.

The US 10-year yield rose 3.6 basis points to 4.62% intraday, while the two-year rate fell 1.8 basis points to 4.31%.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil was up 1.4% at $70.60 a barrel intraday.

Gold fell 0.8% to $2,631.70 per troy ounce, while silver lost 1.4% to $29.98 per ounce.