U.S. stocks are falling as investors await key vote on debt ceiling deal

© Reuters.

Investing.com -- U.S. stocks are falling as investors await a key vote on the debt ceiling deal.

At 9:46 ET (13:46 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 179 points or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.4% and the NASDAQ Composite was flat.

The House is expected to vote later today on the deal, which lifts the debt ceiling to January 2025, limits spending and reclaims funds allocated to fight COVID and bolster the Internal Revenue Service. Passage would send it to the Senate, where lawmakers would have to act quickly to meet a June 5 deadline after which the U.S. could risk default.

The unresolved matter has weighed on markets for weeks, though recent breakthroughs have lifted tech stocks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are both set to end May on a positive note, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq could notch its best performance for May in three years. 

Investors are also looking to Friday’s jobs report for May, which is expected to show job growth slowed but still rose 180,000.

The Federal Reserve will be closely studying the jobs report as it heads into its next meeting in June. Expectations are rising that the policymakers will raise interest rates again, by another quarter of a percentage point. 

Shares of PC maker HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) fell 5% after it reported a drop in sales as consumers spend less on personal computers. Shares of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE) also fell 7.5% as the maker of network and other equipment fell short of expectations. 

American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) shares rose 0.8% after the carrier raised its second-quarter profit forecast. Data on Tuesday showed holiday weekend air travel edged higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Oil fell. Crude Oil WTI Futures were down 1.1% to $68.66 a barrel, while Brent Oil Futures were down 0.8% to $73.18 a barrel.Gold Futures were up 0.6% to $1,988.