Oct 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Wednesday following a brief pause in Wall Street's record rally as investors looked for clues on the interest rate trajectory and clarity on the ongoing government shutdown. .N

** Intel Corp <INTC.O>: BUZZ - Falls; HSBC downgrades stock on weak foundry narrative, lack of deal clarity nL6N3VP0AI

** Newmont Corp <NEM.N>: ** Gold Fields Ltd <GFI.N>: ** AngloGold Ashanti PLC <AU.N>: ** Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd <HMY.N>:

BUZZ - Gold miners climb as bullion surges past $4,000/oz mark in record rally nL3N3VP0FK

** Confluent Inc <CFLT.O>: BUZZ - Rises on report software maker explores sale nL3N3UX0F1

** FedEx Corp <FDX.N>: BUZZ - Falls after J.P.Morgan downgrades to 'neutral', cuts PT nL6N3VP0EH

** Hecla Mining Co <HL.N>: ** Coeur Mining Inc <CDE.N>: ** Endeavour Silver Corp <EXK.N>: ** Silvercorp Metals Inc <SVM.N>:

BUZZ - Silver miners gain as white metal edges up on bet of US rate cuts nL3N3VP0HW

** Joby Aviation Inc <JOBY.N>: BUZZ - Descends on pricing $514 mln stock offering nL6N3VP0FW

** Schlumberger NV <SLB.N>: BUZZ - Bernstein cuts price target on SLB nL3N3VP0KW

** Zenas Biopharma Inc <ZBIO.O>: BUZZ - Rises on licensing deal for autoimmune drug potentially worth over $2 billion nL3N3VP0KG

** Esperion Therapeutics Inc <ESPR.O>: BUZZ - Tumbles on $75 mln equity raise nL6N3VP0IF

(Rajarshi Roy and Anshi Sancheti)

((Anshi.Sancheti@thomsonreuters.com))