Indications: Futures point to third straight day of U.S. gains

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By Kate Gibson & Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a third day of gains Tuesday after equities rose overseas and as the recent pickup in M&A activity continued.

S&P 500 futures rose 6.2 points to 1,120.8, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 10.75 points to 1,853.5, while futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 50 points.

MarketEdge: Emerging-market 'pause that refreshes'

Market Edge: Flagging stock markets in emerging Asia and Latin America represent the "pause that refreshes," CLSA equity strategist Chris Wood tells Laura Mandaro on the sidelines of the brokerage's San Francisco conference. He recommends overweighting EM equities by five times relative to benchmark indices.

Merger news and encouraging economic data had pushed U.S. stocks higher Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8% to come near to its 2009 close. The S&P 500 rose 1% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6%. See Market Snapshot for Monday.

The automobile sector will be in the spotlight Tuesday as its sales for February will be reported

In other industry news, General Motors joined rivals in announcing a recall, in GM's case a recall of 1.3 million compact cars over power-steering trouble.

Economists at Barclays Capital expect the worst month since September 2008, citing recall troubles at Toyota Motor /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 74.30, +0.66, +0.90%) as well as bad weather.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • Asia Markets | Europe Markets | LatAm Markets • Canadian Markets | Israel Stocks | London • U.S.: Market Snapshot | After Hours

Tools• Latin American/Canadian indexes • European indexes | Asian indexes

More on the Markets • Bond Report | Oil News | Earnings Watch • Currencies | U.S. Economic Calendar

/conga/story/misc/international.html 53366

There's little else on the U.S. economics calendar as attention begins to focus on a payrolls report slated for Friday.

Overseas, Australia hiked its key interest rate to 4%, while the Bank of Canada is expected to keep its benchmark rate unchanged at 0.25%.

Terra Industries /quotes/comstock/13*!tra/quotes/nls/tra (TRA 45.93, +4.73, +11.48%) jumped nearly 13% to $46.40 a share as CF Industries /quotes/comstock/13*!cf/quotes/nls/cf (CF 104.01, -3.53, -3.28%) entered a $47.70-a-share bid. That bid trumps agreed-upon terms of a bid from Yara International, although the bid from the Norway-based firm is entirely in cash and the CF offer consists of $37.15 a share in cash and 0.0953 CF shares. See full story on CF's bid for Terra.

Qualcomm /quotes/comstock/15*!qcom/quotes/nls/qcom (QCOM 37.44, +1.88, +5.29%) rose 3.4% after increasing its stock-buyback authority and increasing its dividend by 12%. Read more about the Qualcomm move in After Hours.

A Morgan Stanley technology conference featuring presentations from Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 28.87, -0.15, -0.52%) , International Business Machines /quotes/comstock/13*!ibm/quotes/nls/ibm (IBM 128.19, -0.38, -0.30%) and AT&T /quotes/comstock/13*!t/quotes/nls/t (T 24.86, -0.14, -0.56%) also may garner Tuesday attention on Wall Street.

Asian markets were generally higher, as the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5% in Tokyo, while stocks in Europe rose as gains for Allied Irish Banks /quotes/comstock/13*!aib/quotes/nls/aib (AIB 2.80, +0.09, +3.32%) after its 2009 results were countered by further losses for Prudential PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!puk/quotes/nls/puk (PUK 14.47, -1.66, -10.29%) on its planned acquisition of AIG's Asian operations.

Both the euro and the British pound were weaker Tuesday, though sterling was well above the worst levels of Monday, when a combination of factors, including polls on an upcoming election and the Prudential deal, combined to hit the U.K. currency.

Copper futures were weaker by 0.5% as supply fears after the China earthquake abated.

Kate Gibson is a reporter for MarketWatch, based in New York. Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.

Indications: U.S. futures point to second day of gains

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By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a second day of gains Tuesday as merger activity continued, while figures are due that may show a disappointing month of car sales.

S&P 500 futures rose 5.1 points to 1,119.70 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 8.75 points to 1,851.50. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 44 points.

MarketEdge: Emerging-market 'pause that refreshes'

Market Edge: Flagging stock markets in emerging Asia and Latin America represent the "pause that refreshes," CLSA equity strategist Chris Wood tells Laura Mandaro on the sidelines of the brokerage's San Francisco conference. He recommends overweighting EM equities by five times relative to benchmark indices.

Merger news and encouraging economic data drove U.S. stocks higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8% to come near to its 2009 close. The S&P 500 rose 1% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6%.

The auto sector will be in the spotlight Tuesday as auto sales for February will be reported while General Motors joined rivals by announcing the recall of 1.3 million compact cars over power-steering trouble.

Economists at Barclays Capital expect the worst month since September 2008 due to the recall trouble at Toyota Motor /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 73.64, -1.19, -1.59%) as well as bad weather.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • Asia Markets | Europe Markets | LatAm Markets • Canadian Markets | Israel Stocks | London • U.S.: Market Snapshot | After Hours

Tools• Latin American/Canadian indexes • European indexes | Asian indexes

More on the Markets • Bond Report | Oil News | Earnings Watch • Currencies | U.S. Economic Calendar

/conga/story/misc/international.html 53366

There's little else on the U.S. economics calendar as attention begins to focus on the payrolls report on Friday.

Overseas, Australia hiked its interest rate to 4%, while the Bank of Canada is expected to keep rates unchanged at 0.25%.

Terra Industries /quotes/comstock/13*!tra/quotes/nls/tra (TRA 41.20, +0.03, +0.07%) jumped nearly 13% to $46.35 a share as CF Industries /quotes/comstock/13*!cf/quotes/nls/cf (CF 107.54, +1.30, +1.22%) made a $47.70 a share bid. That bid trumps an agreed bid from Yara International, although the bid from the Norway firm is entirely in cash and the CF offer consists of $37.15 a share in cash and 0.0953 CF shares.

Qualcomm /quotes/comstock/15*!qcom/quotes/nls/qcom (QCOM 35.56, -1.12, -3.06%) rose 2.7% after increasing its stock buyback authority and increasing its dividend by 12%.

A Morgan Stanley technology conference featuring presentations from Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 29.02, +0.35, +1.22%) , International Business Machines /quotes/comstock/13*!ibm/quotes/nls/ibm (IBM 128.57, +1.41, +1.11%) and AT&T /quotes/comstock/13*!t/quotes/nls/t (T 25.00, +0.19, +0.77%) also may garner attention.

Asian markets were generally higher, as the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5% in Tokyo, while stocks in Europe rose as gains for Allied Irish Banks /quotes/comstock/13*!aib/quotes/nls/aib (AIB 2.71, -0.12, -4.24%) after its 2009 results were countered by further losses for Prudential PLC /quotes/comstock/13*!puk/quotes/nls/puk (PUK 16.13, -2.37, -12.81%) on its planned acquisition of AIG's Asian operations.

Both the euro and the British pound were weaker Tuesday, though sterling was well above the worst levels of Monday when a combination of factors, including polls on an upcoming election and the Prudential deal, combined to hit the U.K. currency.

Copper futures were weaker by 0.3% as supply fears after the China earthquake abated.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.

NYSE Arca Morning Update - 08:30:00 ET

NYSE Arca Morning Update for Tuesday, Mar 2, 2010 :

STOCKS TRADING ON NYSE Arca AT A PRICE 15% OR MORE AWAY FROM
THE PREVIOUS TRADE DAY'S CONSOLIDATED CLOSE PRICE (AS OF 08:30:00 ET)

Stock Monday's Close Current Price Pct Change Current NYSE ARCA Vol
NUHC $4.40 $3.16 (28.1%) 20,900

10 MOST ACTIVE STOCKS ON NYSE ARCA AS OF 08:30:00 ET

BASED ON DOLLARS TRADED: | BASED ON SHARES TRADED:
Stock $ Volume Price PctChg | Stock Share Vol Price PctChg
TRA $175395492 $46.61 13.2% | TRA 3,795,255 $46.61 13.2%
SPY $113859460 $112.62 0.7% | C 1,646,915 $3.41 0.6%
CF $34,425,109 $100.50 ( 6.5%) | SPY 1,012,186 $112.62 0.7%
GLD $14,553,776 $110.20 0.7% | SIRI 457,450 $0.89 ( 0.3%)
QCOM $10,127,113 $36.78 3.5% | F 440,620 $12.68 2.2%
QQQQ $8,720,679 $45.63 0.5% | CF 349,114 $100.50 ( 6.5%)
AAPL $6,160,222 $210.07 0.5% | BAC 290,923 $16.67 ( 0.3%)
C $5,625,263 $3.41 0.6% | QCOM 276,598 $36.78 3.5%
F $5,556,211 $12.68 2.2% | CRXX 200,387 $1.54 37.5%
SDS $5,517,627 $33.82 ( 1.3%) | TZA 192,292 $8.46 ( 1.7%)

Price changes may be affected by symbol splits and dividends.

Consolidated close price is the last print (excluding prints with trade
conditions) prior to 4PM ET.

This information is also updated on our web page every morning at 8:35ET:
http://www.tradearca.com/data/volume/daily_update.asp

This material is for informational purposes only.
NYSE Euronext and its affiliates ("NYSE Arca") are not soliciting any action based upon it.
This material is not to be construed as an offer to buy or sell any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal.
Any opinions expressed in this material are NYSE Arca opinions only.
NYSE Arca undertakes no obligation to update any of the information contained in this material in light of new information or future events.
THIS MATERIAL IS PROVIDED BY NYSE ARCA "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
NYSE ARCA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY, TITLE, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AS TO THIS MATERIAL.
IN NO EVENT SHALL NYSE ARCA BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOST PROFITS, TRADING LOSSES AND DAMAGES THAT MAY RESULT FROM THE USE
OF THIS MATERIAL, ANY DELAY OR INTERRUPTION OF SERVICE OR OMISSIONS OR INACCURACIES IN THE MATERIAL) WITH RESPECT TO THIS MATERIAL.

Copyright [2010] by NYSE Euronext. All rights reserved. Reproduction and redistribution prohibited without prior express consent.

Indications: U.S. futures a touch higher ahead of auto sales

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By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures were a touch higher Tuesday, with the auto sector in the high beams ahead of the release of figures that could show a disappointing month of sales.

S&P 500 futures rose seven-tenths of a point to 1,115.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 3.75 points to 1,846.50. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8 points.

MarketEdge: Emerging-market 'pause that refreshes'

Market Edge: Flagging stock markets in emerging Asia and Latin America represent the "pause that refreshes," CLSA equity strategist Chris Wood tells Laura Mandaro on the sidelines of the brokerage's San Francisco conference. He recommends overweighting EM equities by five times relative to benchmark indices.

Merger news and encouraging economic data drove U.S. stocks higher on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.8% to come near to its 2009 close. The S&P 500 rose 1% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.6%.

The auto sector will be in the spotlight Tuesday as auto sales for February will be reported while General Motors joined rivals by announcing the recall of 1.3 million compact cars over power-steering trouble.

Economists at Barclays Capital expect the worst month since September 2008 due to the recall trouble at Toyota Motor /quotes/comstock/13*!tm/quotes/nls/tm (TM 73.64, -1.19, -1.59%) as well as bad weather.

TODAY'S INTERNATIONAL MARKET STORIES

Global Dow

• MarketWatch Topics: Greece • Asia Markets | Europe Markets | LatAm Markets • Canadian Markets | Israel Stocks | London • U.S.: Market Snapshot | After Hours

Tools• Latin American/Canadian indexes • European indexes | Asian indexes

More on the Markets • Bond Report | Oil News | Earnings Watch • Currencies | U.S. Economic Calendar

/conga/story/misc/international.html 53366

There's little else on the U.S. economics calendar as attention begins to focus on the payrolls report on Friday.

Overseas, Australia hiked its interest rate to 4%, while the Bank of Canada is expected to keep rates unchanged at 0.25%.

Qualcomm /quotes/comstock/15*!qcom/quotes/nls/qcom (QCOM 35.56, -1.12, -3.06%) may be active after increasing its stock buyback authority and increasing its dividend by 12%.

A Morgan Stanley technology conference featuring presentations from Microsoft /quotes/comstock/15*!msft/quotes/nls/msft (MSFT 29.02, +0.35, +1.22%) , International Business Machines /quotes/comstock/13*!ibm/quotes/nls/ibm (IBM 128.57, +1.41, +1.11%) and AT&T /quotes/comstock/13*!t/quotes/nls/t (T 25.00, +0.19, +0.77%) also may garner attention.

Asian markets were generally higher, as the Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5% in Tokyo, while stocks in Europe held to a tight range as gains for Allied Irish Banks /quotes/comstock/13*!aib/quotes/nls/aib (AIB 2.71, -0.12, -4.24%) after its 2009 results were countered by further losses for Prudential PLC on its planned acquisition of AIG's Asian operations.

Both the euro and the British pound were weaker Tuesday, though sterling was well above the worst levels of Monday when a combination of factors, including polls on an upcoming election and the Prudential deal, combined to hit the U.K. currency.

Copper futures were weaker by 0.8% as supply fears after the China earthquake abated.

Steve Goldstein is MarketWatch's London bureau chief.