US STOCKS-Wall Street mixed as Apple and Tesla retreat

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* Materials, energy, financials sectors outperform

* Indexes: Dow +0.10%, S&P 500 -0.06%, Nasdaq -0.67%

(Adds detail on afternoon trading)

By Noel Randewich

March 2 (Reuters) - Wall Street was mixed on Tuesday, with Apple and Tesla losing ground, while materials and energy companies climbed as investors looked toward the U.S. Congress approving another stimulus package.

Most S&P 500 sectors traded higher, while technology shares dipped in an ongoing rotation by investors out of stocks that outperformed due to the coronavirus pandemic and into others viewed as likely to do well as the economy recovers.

"We have more optimism about reopening parts of the economy. We are seeing people rotate out of tech stocks and into the reopening stocks, like industrials and financials," said Tom Hainlin, global investment strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 on Monday logged its best day since June as markets cheered approval of a third COVID-19 vaccine in the United States and the U.S. House of Representatives' green light for a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

The U.S. Senate will start debating President Joe Biden's relief bill this week when Democrats aim to pass the legislation through a maneuver known as "reconciliation," which would allow the bill to pass with a simple majority.

Apple dipped 1.2% and Tesla declined 2.3%, with the two companies contributing the most to the S&P 500's loss for the day.

The S&P 500 technology sector index dropped about 0.7%, extending a pullback from late last month after a selloff in the U.S. bond market sparked fears over highly valued stocks.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury bonds have stabilized after hitting a one-year high last week.

The S&P 500 materials rose over 1%, while energy

added 0.3%.

In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

was up 0.1% at 31,567.42 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 3,899.53.

The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.67% to 13,497.89.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies dipped about 1%, trimming its gain in 2021 to 14%, compared with the S&P 500's rise of 4% in the same period.

Kohl's Corp rose about 1.2% after it posted holiday-quarter results beyond market expectations on a boost in online sales and as the company reined in costs.

TV ratings provider Nielsen jumped over 7% after it sold its advanced video advertising business to television streaming platform provider Roku . Shares of Roku dropped 3.6%.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.03-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.74-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 146 new highs and 45 new lows.

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(Reporting by Noel Randewich in Oakland, California; Additional reporting by Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

((noel.randewich@tr.com; (415) 677 2542, Twitter: @randewich))