Stocks end lower ahead of first debate between Trump, Biden

Stocks ended with moderate losses Tuesday as investors waited for the first debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Banks, energy companies and stocks that depend on consumer spending had some of the biggest losses. The price of oil fell 3.2 percent, dragging much of the energy sector down with it.

Some technology stocks, which have long been the biggest driver of this year’s stock market moves, posted gains. Advanced Micro Devices closed up nearly 3 percent and Facebook rose nearly 2 percent. Twitter closed up 1.3 percent.

The Trump-Biden debate comes as coronavirus deaths worldwide crossed 1 million.

Cases in the U.S. are on the rise again as states attempt to reopen schools and factories. Tens of millions of Americans remain out of work.

Investors remain uncertain whether the recovery that happened over the summer was sustainable, and whether the newest surge of cases will be as dramatic as the one in June. The uncertainty has been a big reason why stocks have struggled in September, after rallying the entire summer. The S&P 500 is on track to fall 4.7 percent this month, it’s worst month since March when the stock market plunged sharply as the coronavirus pandemic spread to the U.S.

“The market needs the economy to remain open,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide. “We can handle bumpy economic data, but markets are not priced for the economy to shut back down.”

The S&P 500 index fell 16.13 points, or 0.5 percent, to 3,335.47, after rallying the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131.40 points, or 0.5 percent, to 27,452.66 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 32.28 points, or 0.3 percent, to 11,085.25.