Wall Street Today: Dow, Nasdaq, S&P 500 trade lower as US Fed's Jerome Powell offers no new rate cut guidance

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 fell 93.77 points, or 0.20%, to 46,508.01. The S&P 500 lost 8.34 points, or 0.12%, to 6,745.38, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 31.40 points, or 0.14%, to 23,011.97.

The S&P 500 consumer discretionary stocks fell 0.9%, as Tesla slipped 1.9% and Amazon 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 sector fell 0.8%. Tech stocks rose 0.1%, led by a 2.7% gain in Nvidia .

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 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 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 rose 3.4%, while American Airlines and JetBlue Airways advanced 2.2% and 1.4%, respectively.

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

Lithium producer Albemarle 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. (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shilpi Majumdar)