* S&P 500 flat in early trading
* Materials lead sector gains; real estate biggest loser
* Euro STOXX 600 Index up ~0.7%
* Dollar, gold edge up; crude dips; US 10-Yr Treasury yield ~1.42%
March 2 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of markets brought to you by Reuters reporters. You can share your thoughts with us at markets.research@thomsonreuters.com
S&P 500 LITTLE CHANGED AFTER MONDAY'S RALLY (1010 EST/1510 GMT)
U.S. stocks were mixed with the S&P 500 nearly flat in early trading Tuesday after Monday's strong gains.
Investors were watching for news on the next step of President Joe Biden's stimulus proposal. The U.S. Senate will start debating the relief bill this week when Democrats aim to pass the legislation through a maneuver known as "reconciliation," which would allow the bill to pass with a simple majority.
Investors have been upbeat about the stimulus and also about progress on the vaccine front.
Here is the early market snapshot:
(Caroline Valetkevitch)
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NASDAQ FUTURES: RETRACEMENT RALLY OR REAL TURN? (0900 EST/1400 GMT)
Assessing whether a market just ended what will prove to have been just a sharp correction, or if its turn is actually the early stages of a larger trend change, is no easy feat.
Elliott Wave analysis can potentially aid in assessing such a turn:
Indeed, CME e-mini Nasdaq 100 futures appear to have a 5-wave decline from their February 16 high. If so, this decline can be a larger Wave 1 or A, or the initial stages of what will prove to be a much deeper sell off.
Adding credence to this count, momentum diverged into the mid-February peak and once the futures declined, waves 2 and 4 were both near perfect 61.8% Fibonacci retracements of waves 1 and 3 (60.3% and 61.4%). Additionally, the 161.8% projection for wave 5, down from the wave 4 high, called for a fall to 12,653.97. The futures bottomed at 12,662.25, or around 8 points above this level.
In the wake of this low, the futures have now bounced 666 points to a high of 13,353.75, while retracing around 54% of the entire 1238.25 point slide from the high.
The February 25 (wave 4) high, at 13,353.75 presents a hurdle. Additional Fibonacci retracement barriers reside at 13,427.49 and 13,608.27/13,635.51. In the event of further rally on increasing momentum, as each of these barriers were to give way, it can tilt the futures more toward the view that a near-10% correction ended last Friday, and new highs are ahead.
That said, reversing back below the rising 50-day moving average, now around 13,155, and last Friday's high, at 13,089.50, can suggest a larger Wave 2 or B may be complete. In that event, potential may increase for new lows as a larger Wave 3 or C down unfolds.
(Terence Gabriel)
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(Terence Gabriel and Lance Tupper are Reuters market analysts. The views expressed are their own)