Risk aversion is shaping another tough day for Wall Street, with stocks trading in the red as investors await the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, scheduled at 9 p.m. ET.

Energy and financial sectors are witnessing deeper losses, sharply underperforming the rest of the market.

In the latest monthly report, OPEC revised its global oil demand growth forecasts downward, now expecting 2024 oil demand to increase by 2.03 million barrels per day (bpd), down from the previous estimate of 2.1 million bpd. For 2025, OPEC has trimmed global demand growth forecast to 1.74 million bpd, compared to the earlier projection of 1.78 million bpd.

On the regulatory front, Federal Reserve Board Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr announced changes to the BASEL III and GSIB (Global Systemically Important Banks) surcharge proposals, which will now increase capital requirements for the largest banks by 9%, down from the original plan of 19%. Barr also clarified that banks with assets under $250 billion would largely be exempt from these heightened requirements.

Despite this capital relief, financial stocks sank across the board. The financial sector gauge fell 2%, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) dropping 7%. The SPDR Regional Banking ETF (NYSE:KRE) declined 2.6%, reflecting ongoing pressure even on the regional bank industry which is largely exempted from the regulation.

Elsewhere, Treasuries continued to rally. The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (NASDAQ:TLT) rose 0.6%, hitting its highest levels since late July 2023.

The Japanese yen gained 0.5%, while both gold and Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) traded broadly flat, reflecting a mixed sentiment in alternative assets.

Tuesday's Performance In Major U.S. Indices, ETFs

According to Benzinga Pro data:

• The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) was 0.2% lower to $545.43.
• The SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE:DIA) fell 0.6% to $406.46.
• The tech-heavy Invesco QQQ Trust Series (NASDAQ:QQQ) inched 0.1% higher to $454.91.
• The iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM) fell 1% to $206.36.
• The Real Estate Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLRE) outperformed, up 0.8%. The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLE) and the Financials Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLF) were the laggards, down 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively.

Tuesday's Stock Movers

• Worst-performing energy stocks were Diamondback Energy, Inc. (NYSE:FANG), APA Corporation (NYSE:APA) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), down 5.1%, 5% and 3.4%, respectively.
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (NYSE:HPE) fell over 7% as the company announced it has commenced a public offering of $1.35 billion (27 million shares) of Series C mandatory convertible preferred stock.
• Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) rallied 12% on the back of stronger-than-expected quarterly results.
• Other stocks reacting to earnings were Rubrik Inc. (NYSE:RBRK) down 5.8% and Academy Sports and Outdoors Inc. (NASDAQ:ASO) up 5.68%.
• GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME) will report earnings after the close.

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