U.S. stocks closed lower as Wall Street counted down to its main event for the week, a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell coming up on Friday.

2020 could turn out to be the best year for the IPO market in two decades. Newly public companies have piggybacked on the broader stock market, which made a soaring recovery in spring and summer after COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns derailed the longest bull run in history. Through August, 143 companies went public and brought in more than $50.4 billion in proceeds, the most since 2014. The IPO market will likely remain strong, Bell said, "as long as the market behaves." “Reality is sinking in for a lot of investors,” Bell said.