US STOCKS-Wall St ticks lower after Powell offers no new guidance on rate outlook

By Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell offered no fresh policy signals, leaving investors to rely on older data to shape sentiment.

While markets have priced in aggressive interest rate cuts on hopes that the Fed will prioritize labor market support, minutes from the central bank's September meeting released on Wednesday showed lingering inflation concerns.

Investors will also tune in to remarks from other Fed speakers, including Board Governor Michael Barr and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly.

Any hawkish tilt from policymakers could weigh on equities, which have held strong even during a seasonally weak stretch, partly on expectations of lower rates.

"We're headed for a big correction, but that correction is not likely to happen for a few months," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

At 10:12 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 93.77 points, or 0.20%, to 46,508.01. The S&P 500 .SPX lost 8.34 points, or 0.12%, to 6,745.38, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 31.40 points, or 0.14%, to 23,011.97.

The S&P 500 consumer discretionary stocks .SPLRCD fell 0.9%, as Tesla TSLA.O slipped 1.9% and Amazon AMZN.O lost 0.9%.

Tesla declined after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was opening an investigation into 2.88 million of its vehicles equipped with Full Self-Driving system.

The stocks also weighed on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 industrials .SPLRCI sector fell 0.8%. Tech .SPLRCT stocks rose 0.1%, led by a 2.7% gain in Nvidia NVDA.O.

Traders are also turning their attention to the earnings season as official data releases remain halted with the government shutdown now in its second week. Company forecasts and executive commentary are expected to serve as indicators for crucial insights into the economic outlook.

While their correlation with official data varies, some of these proxies have shown worrying trends. Earlier this week, investment firm Carlyle CG.O estimated that U.S. employers added just 17,000 jobs last month, far below the 54,000 estimated by economists polled by Reuters in the nonfarm payrolls report.

The six largest U.S. banks are expected to report stronger third-quarter earnings next week, bolstered by a rebound in investment banking.

Separately, spot gold prices held above $4,000 an ounce, after breaching the milestone for the first time earlier this week. Bullion's gains have highlighted strong demand for hedging even as investors chase momentum in equities.

However, Israel and Hamas signing off on the first phase of a proposed Gaza peace deal could help remove a long-term overhang on risk assets.

Among stocks, Delta Air Lines DAL.N shares jumped 5.4%. The airline provided an upbeat forecast for the current quarter, after posting stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Other U.S. carriers also gained. United Airlines UAL.O rose 3.4%, while American Airlines AAL.O and JetBlue Airways JBLU.O advanced 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively.

U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale COST.O rose 2.5%, a day after reporting sales data for September.

Lithium producer Albemarle ALB.N rose 8.2% after brokerage TD Cowen raised price target on the stock and as China tightened export controls on rare earths.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.54-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 18 new 52-week highs and four new lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 88 new highs and 31 new lows.