Paint the Table

[Foxlette]

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- After vaulting higher for two consecutive sessions, the bulls are looking to take a step back to assess their accomplishment.

Economic data have taken center stage but investors will have to wait until Friday to get their fix for the week. Before that, in fact, only secondary indicators will litter the tape.

Tuesday will see the second-tier release of the non-manufacturing Institute of Supply Management Index, which economists see posting a 52.2 percent reading in February, up from the previous month's 49.6 percent. The index, which tracks the services sector, doesn't have a long history and is thus not accorded the same importance of the ISM manufacturing index.

The futures markets pointed to a soggy open. The March S&P 500 contract eased back 2.20 points, or 0.2 percent, and was trading around 4.40 points under fair value, according to HL Camp & Co. figures. And Nasdaq futures slumped 3.50 points, or 0.2 percent and were trading about 6.10 points above fair value.

There were plenty of analyst actions to home in on. The most noteworthy was Morgan Stanley's upgrade of chip kingpin Intel (NasdaqNM: INTC - news) to a "strong buy" from an "outperform," sending its shares up 85 cents to $32.70. Morgan cited expectations that Intel's near-term business conditions are "in line to slightly higher" than the consensus estimate. CS First Boston doesn't expect Intel to make material changes to its current outlook when it provides its midquarter update this week due to "limited visibility."

Four in a row for Treasurys
The budding growth story is one that has squashed the Treasury market for four days running.

Rising inflation expectations in the long end has pushed the yield on a 10-year note to a one-month high while fed funds futures have upped their tightening expectations over the past few trading sessions.

The 10-year Treasury note was off 7/32 to yield 5.025 percent while the 30-year government bond sputtered 1/8 to yield 5.515 percent.

In the foreign exchange sector, the dollar was again weak against the Japanese currency, dropping 0.3 percent to 131.66 yen while the euro shed 0.1 percent to 86.85 cents.