MARKET PREVIEW: Can techs hold 2,000?

The Nasdaq may struggle to hold 2,000 as more bad news floods in from the likes of CMGI and Asyst Technologies. Asian markets were mixed, Europe was down, and the Dow is set to open sharply lower.

U.S.

After recovering from Monday's nadir, when it closed below the 2,000 mark, the Nasdaq may have trouble holding Tuesday's gains. CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI), the Internet incubator, reported late Tuesday that its loss widened to $2.6 billion in the latest quarter. It also lowered sales estimates for the next two quarters and said it's looking into selling more businesses to make itself profitable.

Asyst Technologies (Nasdaq: ASYT), a semiconductor fab automation company, will also see some negative attention after it warned that its second-quarter sales will fall 15 percent from the prior quarter.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Wednesday's most actively traded issues: Asyst Technologies, CMGI and Comverse Technology.

Bargain hunters gave technology stocks a much-needed boost Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite moved up 91 points to finish at 2,014.72. The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 83 points to close at 10,290.80.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open a whopping 279 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 32 points to 1,177.50 at 7:25 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 12 to 193.77.

Asia

Trading in Asia was mixed. The Nikkei 225 rose 23.89 to 11,843.59, Singapore's Strait Times index dropped 5.79 to 1,792.18 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 162.19 to 1,3330.84.

Europe

European markets were down. London's FTSE 100 fell 137.50 to 5,583.20, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 149.96 to 5,036.91 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was off 191.55 to 5,771.38 at 7:00 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.