US STOCKS-Futures flat after heated Trump-Biden debate

* Chaotic first U.S. presidential debate dulls mood
* U.S. private payrolls rise more than expected in Sept -
ADP
* Mega-cap technology firms hit by antitrust news
* Futures: Dow up 0.01%, S&P up 0.04%, Nasdaq off 0.09%

(Adds comments, updates prices)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were trading flat
after falling more than 1% on Wednesday as a heated first
presidential debate pointed to a tough race ahead, with
investors also locking in gains on the last day of the third
quarter.
Trading on Wall Street has become more volatile in the past
few weeks on increasing doubts whether President Donald Trump
would accept the election's outcome if he lost.
In a chaotic and bad-tempered first debate, Trump and
Democratic rival Joe Biden battled fiercely over Trump's record
on the coronavirus pandemic, healthcare and the economy.
"It is becoming more likely that we won't have a clear-cut
winner on the night of the election and could have a few weeks
of contested period," said Masahiko Loo, portfolio manager at
AllianceBernstein in Tokyo.
Analysts said stock markets could also see quarter-end
rebalancing of investor portfolios on Wednesday, as the previous
session was marked by market participants booking profits after
a strong start to the week.
Wall Street's main indexes are headed for their first
monthly declines since March, when lockdowns slammed the
economy.
Despite the expected weakness in September, the S&P 500 was
on course for its best two-quarter winning streak since 2009 and
the Nasdaq since 2000.
At 9:11 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 3 points, or
0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 1.5 points, or 0.04% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 10.25 points, or 0.09%.
Futures cut earlier losses after a report showed U.S.
private employers stepped up hiring in September and separate
figures showed the Chicago PMI reading jumped to 62.4, the
highest level since December 2018. Investors now await a more detailed jobs report from the
Labor Department on Friday.
Mega-cap technology-related companies including Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Alphabet GOOGL.O , Amazon.com AMZN.O and Facebook
FB.O fell in premarket trading, pressured by antitrust-related
action from the United States, China and the European Union.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O rose 3.1% after researchers said its
COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced virus-neutralizing
antibodies in older adults at levels similar to those seen in
younger adults in an early safety study. Walt Disney Co DIS.N fell 1.3% as it plans to lay off
roughly 28,000 employees, mostly at its U.S. theme
parks. Micron Technology Inc MU.O slipped 3.6% after the
chipmaker said it has not yet obtained new licenses needed to
sell its memory chips to China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
HWT.UL , which would cut its sales over the next two quarters.