US STOCKS-Wall Street treads water ahead of first presidential debate

* First presidential debate due to start at 9 p.m. EDT
* Democratic sweep modestly positive for S&P 500 profits -
GS
* Consumer confidence rebounds in September
* Dow flat, S&P 500 up 0.13%, Nasdaq up 0.11%

(Updates to open)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes steadied on
Tuesday after substantial gains a day earlier, with a positive
reading on consumer confidence soothing nerves about the economy
as attention turned to the first U.S. presidential debate.
The 11 major S&P 500 sectors were split down the middle in
early trading with five falling and energy stocks .SPNY and
financials .SPSY , which bounced strongly in the previous
session, giving back most of their gains.
President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
will lock horns in their first 90-minute televised debate in
Cleveland, with the election now just five weeks away. Polls
show Biden leading Trump nationally and in a number of key
battleground states. "It's end of the month, most of the rebalancing is in the
rear-view mirror and the market has its eyes set on the debate,"
said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC in New
York.
With Trump declining to guarantee he will accept the result
on Nov. 3, speculation around the election has helped push up
volatility .VIX on Wall Street, with analysts warning of more
to come in the final weeks of the campaign.
Goldman Sachs analysts said a victory for Biden in the
election, along with the Democratic party controlling the Senate
and the House of Representatives, would be slightly beneficial
to profits for S&P 500 firms through 2024. Among sectors, a stronger "green energy" push under a Biden
administration could support alternative energy stocks, while a
Trump victory could spell additional relief for companies that
benefited from the president's corporate tax cuts. "This is the most important thing to watch because the
potential change in tax plan could really have a significant
impact on the stock market," Hayes said.
While all three main indexes are on track for their first
monthly decline since the coronavirus-driven selloff in February
and March, the S&P 500 .SPX is still on course to rack up its
two best back-to-back quarters since 2009.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC is on track for its biggest
two-quarter jump since the dotcom crash in 2000.
Data showed U.S. consumer confidence rebounded more than
expected in September as households' views of the labor market
improved. Also on the radar were talks between U.S. House of
Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Adviser
Larry Kudlow on a coronavirus relief bill a day after Democratic
lawmakers had unveiled a new, $2.2 trillion package.
By 10:28 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 5.12 points, or 0.02%, at 27,589.18, and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 4.51 points, or 0.13%, at 3,356.11. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 11.84 points, or 0.11%, at 11,129.36.
Among stocks, Sorrento Therapeutics SRNE.O jumped 8.5%
while Fitbit Inc FIT.N gained 6.5% after Reuters reported
Google GOOGL.O was poised to win EU approval for its $2.1
billion acquisition of the fitness tracker maker.
Declining issues marginally outnumbered advancers on the
NYSE and the reverse on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 45 new highs and 13 new lows.