US STOCKS-Wall Street edges lower ahead of first presidential debate

* First U.S. 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 off 0.47%, S&P 500 down 0.28%, Nasdaq flat

(Adds comment; updates prices)
By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Sept 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched lower in choppy
trading on Tuesday after substantial gains a day earlier, with
investors shifting their focus to the first presidential debate
later in the day.
Eight of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were lower, with
energy stocks .SPNY and financials .SPSY leading declines,
as they gave back some of their gains from the previous session.
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. 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.
"The markets will stay choppy between now and the end of the
year, especially with all the uncertainty surrounding the
election," said Eric Marshall, portfolio manager at Hodges
Capital in Dallas.
"Today is really just some profit taking on the heels of a
strong broadening out market rally that people were somewhat
surprised by on Monday."
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. "The market has its eyes set on the debate ... a potential
change in tax plan could really have a significant impact on the
stock market," said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital
LLC in New York.
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.
At 11:27 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 129.28 points, or 0.47%, at 27,454.78, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 9.35 points, or 0.28%, at 3,342.25. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 5.18 points, or 0.05%, at 11,122.71.
Among stocks, Sorrento Therapeutics SRNE.O jumped 12.4%,
while Fitbit Inc FIT.N gained 6.4% 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 outnumbered advancers for a 1.86-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.19-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded six new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 51 new highs and 23 new lows.