Hello,
When we take an object selection, is only possible to distribute (or resize) this interactively from a corner (taking the opposite selection corner). Although pressing Shift you could snap resize to one direction, could be great to resize from center, for example pressing Ctrl or Alt (and maybe in combination of "snap" direction).
Regards
Great request! Maybe holding down the c-key while draging the corner could do that. Or shift+c if you want to constrain the direction?