* Majority of S&P sectors lower; energy leads, utilities lag
* Euro STOXX 600 index down ~0.5%
* Dollar edges lower; gold, crude gain
* U.S. 10-Year Treasury yield ~1.33%
Feb 22 - Welcome to the home for real-time coverage of
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PICKING UP WHERE THEY LEFT OFF (1001 EST/1501 GMT)
Major averages are lower in the early stages of trading,
with the S&P 500 now on pace for its fifth straight
decline, which would mark the longest losing streak since a
seven-day span in February 2020, as inflation worries continue
to permeate the market.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield has backed off
some after rising as high as 1.394% and was last at 1.33% ahead
of testimony in Washington by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday
to the Senate Banking Committee.
Brian Larose, technical analyst at ICAP in Jersey City, New
Jersey sees a "pocket of resistance" overhead for the 10-year
between 1.391% to 1.481%, should the Fed "make any attempt to
cap this rally," with 1.82% as the next objective should the
central bank allow the climb to continue.
Cyclical names were among the few bright spots, with energy
up more than 3% while materials and and
financials also on the plus side, while tech
and utilities lagged.
Manufacturing surveys will continue to roll out this week,
with Dallas Fed data due shortly. Recent readings from
Philadelphia and Empire State came in better than expected,
while on Friday the preliminary Markit manufacturing PMI came in
at 58.5.
Below is your market snapshot:
S&P 500: PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM (0900 EST/1400 GMT)
The market may be humming an eerily similar tune this
February when it comes the action that led up to its February
2020 top:
Indeed, last year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
put in a closing high on February 12th, and the S&P 500
peaked on February 19.
So far this year, the S&P 500's closing high was on February
12, and the Dow's intraday high was on February 19.
Also, last year, the Nasdaq Composite's closing high
was on February 19, while so far this year, it was on February
12.
Meanwhile, in the 20 weeks leading up to the SPX's February
2020 top, the benchmark index put in a low-to-high advance of
18.82%. This year, in the 20 weeks leading up to last week's
high, the SPX put in a low-to-high advance of 18.86%.
From its February 19, 2020 closing high, the SPX kicked off
its collapse with losing streak of 7 straight trading days. From
its February 12 closing high this year, and given Monday's
weakness in premarket futures, the SPX can be on track
to fall for a 5th straight day.
Also of note, SPX weekly momentum diverged into its February
2020 high. Back then, the RSI topped 4 weeks prior to the SPX's
weekly closing high. So far this year, the RSI peak was 5 weeks
ahead of the high weekly close.
In any event, from its February peak last year, the SPX
suffered a more than 35% collapse over 5 weeks. Thus, it now
remains to be seen if the same song is going to play out in
2021.
(Terence Gabriel)
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(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views
expressed are his own)