Wall Street stocks finished at fresh records again on Thursday as a US government shutdown dragged into a second day.

President Donald Trump signalled he plans mass lay-offs of US federal workers amid the stalemate in budget talks. A Senate vote is expected on Friday on a House-passed resolution to keep the government funded at current levels through November 21.

Following an up day on leading bourses in Europe and Asia, US stocks dipped into negative territory during the session, but all three major US indices finished at records after ending the day in positive territory.

The Dow Jones edged up 0.2 percent to 46,519. The S&P 500 climbed 0.1 percent to 6,715, while the Nasdaq jumped 0.4 percent to 22,844.

"Investors don't really expect a shutdown to be concluded anytime soon, and as a result, the Fed will likely have to go to the more cautious approach, which means cut rates in October," said Sam Stovall of CFRA Research.

The shutdown is expected to delay the release of the September US jobs report, which was scheduled for Friday.

Among individual companies, Tesla fell 5.1 percent despite reporting a seven percent jump in third-quarter auto deliveries, snapping a series of declines in recent quarters.

Analysts attributed the uptick in sales to the September 30 expiration of a US electric vehicle tax credit, adding that they expect Tesla to struggle to maintain the sales momentum.

Berkshire Hathaway fell 0.5 percent after announcing it will acquire Occidental's chemical business, OxyChem, in an all-cash transaction for US$9.7 billion. Occidental dropped 7.3 percent. (AFP)