Stocks close mixed as investors come back from long weekendThe U.S. major averages had a mixed session after investors returned from the long President's Day weekend. However, the MSCI benchmark for emerging and developed markets has risen for 12 straight sessions as global stocks have seen their longest winning streak in 17 years amid optimism about the ongoing economic recovery, fueled by vaccinations and COVID-19 mitigation strategies as well as fiscal and monetary support.ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., the Empire State manufacturing index surged 8.6 points to 12.1 in February, which was much stronger than expected.Data from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering shows there are now 109M confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including 27.7M in the U.S., and 2.4M deaths due to the disease, including 487,000 in the U.S.TOP NEWS: Shares of CVS Health ($CVS) fell 5% after the company's Q4 adjusted earnings and revenue topped consensus forecasts.In COVID-19 news, the World Health Organization listed two versions of the AstraZeneca ($AZN) and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX. The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio and the Serum Institute of India.In M&A news, CoreLogic ($CLGX) confirmed that it has received an unsolicited acquisition proposal from CoStar Group ($CSGP) for an all-stock transaction representing a value of approximately $95.76 per share based on CoStar Group's closing share price on February 12. CoreLogic, which has previously announced an agreement under which funds managed by Stone Point Capital and Insight Partners agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of CoreLogic for $80 per share in cash, said it will "carefully review" the rival proposal in consultation with its outside legal counsel and financial advisors.In other M&A news, Amazon ($AMZN) confirmed that a month ago it had agreed to acquire Shopify ($SHOP) competitor Selz, an e-commerce platform for businesses.Volkswagen ($VWAGY) Chief Executive Officer Herbert Diess sees Apple's ($AAPL) plan to enter the auto industry as "a very logical step" as the iPhone maker combines its expertise in software, batteries and design with enormous resources, according to Bloomberg's Jan-Patrick Barnert. "Despite that, we're not scared," Diess said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The car sector is different from the technology industry, and Apple "won't manage to take it over overnight," he reportedly said. Meanwhile, Financial Times' Kana Inagaki, Peter Campbell, and Patrick McGee reported that Apple approached Nissan ($NSANY) in recent months about a tie-up for its secretive autonomous car project, but talks are no longer active.In addition, shares of Churchill Capital IV ($CCIV) jumped 32% after Reuters reported that electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors is nearing a deal to go public at a roughly $12B valuation via Churchill. The merger between Lucid and the SPAC would be bigger than the electric vehicle deals that brought Nikola ($NKLA) and Fisker ($FSR) public through special purpose acquisition companies, the authors note.MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was 500.com ($WBAI), which surged 35% after announcing that it has entered into a share exchange agreement with Blockchain Alliance, pursuant to which to company has agreed to issue an aggregate of 44,353,435 Class A ordinary shares of the company to Blockchain Alliance at the first closing, which shares represent approximately 10% of the company's outstanding shares as of January 31, in exchange for the entire outstanding share capital of Blockchain Alliance Technologies Limited held by Blockchain Alliance after the reorganization. Also higher was AutoNation ($AN), which rose 1% after reporting quarterly results.Among the notable losers was bluebird bio ($BLUE), which dropped 38% and received several downgrades after announcing that the company has placed its Phase 1/2 and Phase 3 studies of LentiGlobin gene therapy for sickle cell disease on a temporary suspension due to a reported suspected unexpected serious adverse reaction of acute myeloid leukemia. Also lower was Palantir ($PLTR), which fell 13% after reporting quarterly results. Tuesday's economic data was limited to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey, which increased to 12.1 in February (Briefing.com consensus 9.0) from 3.5 in January.Russell 2000 +15.1% YTDNasdaq Composite +9.0% YTDS&P 500 +4.7% YTDDow Jones Industrial Average +3.0% YTDMarket SnapshotDow31522.75+64.35(0.20%)Nasdaq14047.52-47.97(-0.34%)SP 5003932.59-2.24(-0.06%)10-yr Note -27/321.264NYSEAdv 1503 Dec 1720 Vol 1.0 blnNasdaqAdv 2091 Dec 1891 Vol 7.5 blnIndustry WatchStrong: Energy, Financials, Communication ServicesWeak: Utilities, Real Estate, Health Care, Consumer DiscretionaryMoving the Market-- Dow ekes out closing record high in mixed session -- 10-yr yield rose to 1.30% amid increased selling interest-- Continued strength in energy and financial stocksDisclosure: I may trade in the ticker symbols mentioned, both long or short. My articles represent my personal opinion and analysis and should not be taken as investment advice. 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