U.S. stocks decline as Powell passes on policy outlook commentary

 The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open on Thursday, with stocks likely to show a lack of direction after ending the previous session mostly higher.

A lack of major U.S. economic data may keep some traders on the sidelines, as the ongoing U.S. government shutdown continues to indefinitely delay the release of key reports.

The Labor Department was due to share its report on weekly jobless claims this morning, but the release has been delayed as the shutdown enters its ninth day.

Traders have largely shrugged off concerns about the economic impact of the shutdown but may start to pay greater attention to developments in Washington as the suspension of non-essential government services drags on.

Lawmakers in Washington continue to struggle to pass a temporary funding bill due in part to Democrats' demands that the legislation include an extension of enhanced Obamacare tax credits.

Remarks by several Federal Reserve officials may also attract attention, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell's welcoming remarks at a Community Bank Conference did not provide any insight into the outlook for interest rates.

Fed Governor Michael Barr and Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman are also scheduled to deliver remarks later this afternoon.

Following the pullback seen in the previous session, stocks moved back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 more than offset Tuesday's losses, reaching new record closing highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way higher, jumping 255.02 points or 1.1 percent to 23,043.38, while the S&P 500 climbed 39.13 points or 0.6 percent to 6,753.72. The narrower Dow ended the day little changed, edging down 1.20 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 46,601.78.

The strength on Wall Street partly reflected a notable advance by shares of Nvidia (NVDA), with the AI darling and market leading surging by 2.2 percent to a record closing high.

Nvidia moved high after CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC's "Squawk Box" artificial intelligence computing demand has increased "substantially" in the last six months.

Stocks saw continued strength even after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's September revealed participants expressed a range of views about the likely future path of monetary policy.

Most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year, the Fed said, although some noted financial conditions warrant a cautious approach in the consideration of future policy changes.

Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 4.3 percent to a record closing high.

Networking and semiconductor stocks also turned in strong performances, contributing to the jump by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.

Outside of the tech sector, gold stocks saw considerable strength amid a continued surge by the price of the precious metal, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index shooting up 2.8 percent.

Steel and airline stocks also showed notable moves to the upside, while some weakness was visible among banking stocks.

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