Technology shares boosted US stocks to a higher close on Wednesday as investors, lacking economic data during the government shutdown, looked to minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting for clues to the outlook for interest rates.

The tech-laden Nasdaq enjoyed the biggest percentage gain, boosted by the artificial intelligence-related megacaps that have led market gains so far this year.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched all-time closing highs, while the Dow ended essentially flat.

Chip stocks were clear outperformers, while energy, consumer staples and homebuilders were the laggards, as a report from the US Mortgage Bankers Association showed US home loan demand dipped 4.7 percent last week, despite easing interest rates.

Amid continuing euphoria surrounding AI, mounting US and geopolitical uncertainty has pushed gold prices above the US$4,000-per-ounce threshold as investors flock to the safe-haven metal as a hedge against growing risks.

The US government shutdown entered its eighth day, and a congressional stalemate appeared to suggest market participants will lack official economic indicators for the immediate future, leaving markets with little to go on until third-quarter earnings season kicks off next week.

In the absence of data, investors also looked forward to the minutes from the September meeting of the Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) for clues as to the central bank's intentions regarding interest rate cuts.

Those minutes showed a divided committee, with policymakers concerned about rising labour market risks but still wary of inflation. And while "most judged that it likely would be appropriate to ease policy further over the remainder of this year," the timing and pace of further moves remained an open question.

Financial markets are currently pricing in a fairly certain 92.5 percent likelihood that the Fed will lower the Fed funds target rate by 25 basis points at the conclusion of this month's policy meeting, which is set to occur on October 29.

The Dow Jones edged down by less than 0.01 percent, to 46,601, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 6,753 and the Nasdaq gained 1.1 percent to 23,043. (Reuters)