US STOCKS-Wall Street closes lower, ending 3-day rally ahead of U.S. presidential debate

(New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments
to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street closed lower on
Tuesday, snapping a three-day winning streak as investors took
money off the table hours before the first U.S. presidential
debate.
All three major U.S. stock indexes lost ground.
"Tonight's presidential debate has the potential to move
markets and investors are unlikely to take a large position in
front of that," said David Carter, chief investment officer at
Lenox Wealth Advisors in New York. "Right now, markets are
clearly driven by events in Washington, bed it fiscal stimulus
or the presidential election."
Market participants eyed the first head-to-head showdown
between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic
challenger Joe Biden in a debate expected to air from Cleveland
Tuesday evening. The latest poll shows Biden leading nationally and in a
number of battleground states. While the election has implications for different sectors,
notably healthcare, green energy and beneficiaries of Trump's
corporate tax cuts, Goldman Sachs analysts expected a Democratic
sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress would be
beneficial to S&P 500 profits through 2024. "We think markets can do fine with either Trump or Biden,
but they need to know who the winner is," Carter added. "But
concern is rising about having a clear election winner in
November due partly to so many mail-in ballots, which will take
time to count."
In the closing days of September and the second quarter, the
major indexes were on track for their first monthly declines
since March, when mandated shutdowns slammed the economy.
Despite September's expected loss, the S&P and the Nasdaq
were on course for their best two-quarter winning streaks since
2009 and 2000, respectively.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled
a new, $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill proposed by House
Democrats, a sign of potential progress in the partisan
tug-of-war over the new aid package nearly two months after
emergency unemployment benefits expired for millions.

Stocks were given a brief boost early in the session by data
from the Conference Board, which showed consumer confidence
surging past expectations this month with the largest point gain
in 17 years.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
133.7 points, or 0.48%, to 27,450.36, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
16.27 points, or 0.49%, to 3,335.33 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 32.28 points, or 0.29%, to 11,085.25.
Among 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, energy .SPNY and
financials .SPSY suffered the largest percentage losses.
Shares of Sorrento Therapeutics SRNE.O jumped after the
company's COVID-19 antibody candidates showed promise in a
study. Fitbit Inc FIT.N advanced after Reuters reported Alphabet
Inc GOOGL.O was poised to win EU approval for its $2.1 billion
acquisition of the fitness tracker maker.