Shares of banks and other lenders and money managers were lower amid worries about the economic outlook after Congress and the White House failed to agree on a much-anticipated fiscal stimulus deal.

"The ability to fight the virus further right now is very much in question, and it's a political question," said Steven Wieting, chief strategist at Citi Private Bank. It could be months before anything gets done in Washington, and that's got investors tentative, he said.

In one bright spot, fewer major U.S. companies are defaulting on their debt than investors feared just months ago, a boost to corporate bond prices and an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy. At the end of September, the trailing 12-month default rate for U.S. corporate issuers of speculative-grade bonds and loans was 8.5%, according to Moody's Investors Service. That was below the 11.2% rate that Moody's had forecast in early April and a decline from the previous month's rate of 8.7%.

Chinese financial-technology giant Ant Group Co. is set to raise at least $34.4 billion from the world's biggest-ever initial public offering, filings showed Monday, in a blockbuster deal that will bypass U.S. stock exchanges.

Thoma Bravo, a private-equity firm focused on technology and software, has collected $22.8 billion from investors for three funds in one of the largest tech-focused private-equity fundraising hauls to date. The Chicago-based private-equity firm collected $17.8 billion for its flagship buyout fund, Thoma Bravo Flagship Fund XIV, making the new vehicle more than 41% larger than its predecessor, which closed with $12.6 billion in January 2019.

Blackstone Group has struck a deal to buy Simply Self Storage from Brookfield Asset Management, making a bet on a sector that has remained strong throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The private-equity firm's nontraded real-estate investment trust, known as BREIT, is buying the 8 million square-foot portfolio of self-storage facilities for about $1.2 billion, the two firms said.

Write to Amy Pessetto at amy.pessetto@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-26-20 1704ET