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WALL STREET MUDDLES AROUND WITH FED MINUTES AHEAD (1010 EDT/1410 GMT)

Major U.S. stock indexes are flat to slightly higher in early Wednesday trading, pausing as investors are anticipating the release of later in the day of the Minutes from the last Federal Reserve meeting.

Tech, communication services are leading percentage gains among sectors, while materials .SPLRCM are showing the biggest decline.

In any event, the pause comes as investor optimism has been high over the economic recovery, with last Friday's monthly U.S. jobs data among the latest bits of data to give investors more hope.

Here is the early U.S. market snapshot:

(Caroline Valetkevitch)

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COMMODITIES: FIRST REMOVE THE FROTH (0919 GMT/1319 GMT)

Maybe it's a bubble, or perhaps we should say frothy trade.

But whatever we call it, it seems that speculative buying drove some commodity prices recently, and this should come to an end sooner or later, impacting shares in miners.

"We expect that some of this froth will fade over the summer, with inflation concerns and eventual rate hike pressures weighing on metal prices," according to Berenberg analysts.

But it does not seem to be over yet. "The upbeat 'playlist' of stimulus measures and optimism have scope to enable commodity prices to surprise to the upside, at least in the near term."

But as new supply is coming, Berenberg analysts expect price corrections in the second half of 2021.

They are cautious on gold after net outflows of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and believe it is likely to drift lower unless the pandemic's fallout keeps rates lower for longer.

Bottom line, Berenberg takes a neutral/negative stance on precious metal miners, favoring Polymetal.

Preferred names remain Central Asia Metals on strong free cash flow and dividend yields, such as Kenmare  and Tharisa.

Anglo American is its favored diversified miner, while it remains hold-rated on Rio Tinto RIO.L and BHP  .

(Stefano Rebaudo)

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NASDAQ COMPOSITE: GENERALS GYRATE, TROOPS COIL (0900 EDT/1300 GMT)

Since topping on Feb. 16, the Nasdaq Composite has been on a roller-coaster ride.

Indeed, the tech-laden index slid as much as 12.5% in just 13 trading days, into its March 5 trough. Now, over the last 21 trading days, the Composite has rallied as much as 11.1%.

That said, the IXIC has yet to join the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and the S&P 500 .SPX , in record high territory this April. The Composite ended Tuesday about 3% shy of its February closing high.

With this, the IXIC stalled right in the 76.4%/78.6% Fibonacci retracement zone of its February-March slide, in the 13,755.49/13,794.61 area. The Composite hit 13,776.71 and then backed off into the close:

Meanwhile, since the Composite's February top, a measure of internal strength, the Nasdaq daily Advance/Decline line, has been coiling in a contracting range.

On the plus side, the A/D line made a higher low with the Composite's early-March trough. Now, however, despite the Nasdaq having exceeded its mid-March high, at 13,620.71, the A/D line is so far failing to confirm that move, by threatening to roll over shy of its commensurate level.

Ultimately, to add confidence in continued Nasdaq gains, traders will want to see the index close above the retracement zone, coupled with the A/D line breaking out above its mid-March high, and resistance line from its February high.

Conversely, if the Composite falls back below its mid-March high, and the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of its February/March slide, at 13,495.90, along with an A/D line break of the support line from its late-January low, the potential for a more sustained decline may be back at the forefront.

(Terence Gabriel)

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(Terence Gabriel is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)