US stocks pause ahead of tax bill and new Fed Chair announcement

   •  Traders turn cautious ahead of two closely watched events.
   •  Earnings report would continue to seek attention. 

Major US equity indices witnessed a subdued opening on Thursday as bulls turned cautious and braced for the unveiling of a long-awaited tax bill and the next Fed Chair announcement. 

After a one-day postponement, a tax bill from House Republicans is expected to be made public at 11:15 a.m. ET (1515 GMT). Hopes for the passage of tax reforms had been one of the key factors driving the markets to a series of record highs over the past 10-11 months. 

Also in focus would the US President Donald Trump's choice for the next Fed Chair. The Fed Governor Jerome Powell is the likely choice from a list of five finalists that included the current Fed Chair Janet Yellen, Stanford University economist John Taylor, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and White House economic adviser Gary Cohn.

   •  US: Powell expected to be nominated to succeed Janet Yellen as Fed Chair - HSBC

On the economic data front, the US initial jobless claims fell by 5K to 229K during the week ended Oct. 27. Among individual stocks, Tesla and Facebook would grab investors' attention, following their quarterly reports late Wednesday, and earnings from tech giant Apple and coffee-chain Starbucks.

During the opening hour of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped around 13-points to 23,422, while the broader S&P 500 Index lost nearly 6-points to 2,574. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index retreated 14-points to 6,702.