Stocks closed lower on Wall Street as optimism faded that Washington will deliver more badly needed aid for the economy before the election next month.
The benchmark S&P 500 index fell 1.6% after starting the day higher.
Investors are also preparing for a busy week of corporate earnings.
Procter & Gamble, Netflix and IBM are among the companies that will report how they did over the summer, when the virus lockdowns were in full swing.
Stocks had been up in the early going following a report that China’s economy grew at a 5% annual rate in the last quarter.