Stocks Drop Ahead of Trump-Biden Debate

Dow was down 131 points
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 29, 2020 4:02 PM CDT
Stocks Drop Ahead of Trump-Biden Debate
A historic marker for Wall Street is shown in New York's financial district.   (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Stock. ended with moderate losses Tuesday as investors waited for the first debate between President Trump and Joe Biden. Banks, energy companies, and stocks that depend on consumer spending had some of the biggest losses, the AP reports. The price of oil fell 3.2%, dragging much of the energy sector down with it. The S&P 500 index fell 16.13 points, or 0.5%, to 3,335.47, after rallying the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 131.40 points, or 0.5%, to 27,452.66 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite lost 32.28 points, or 0.3%, to 11,085.25. 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% and Facebook rose nearly 2%. Twitter closed up 1.3%.

The Trump-Biden debate comes as coronavirus deaths worldwide crossed 1 million. Cases in the US 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 market needs the economy to remain open,” says 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.”

(More stock market stories.)

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