MARKET PREVIEW: Can techs pull out of the doldrums?

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

As a batch of IPOs ventures into the Nasdaq's neurotic doldrums Thursday, watch for techs to resurface, though nets may continue to be bogged down. Asia and Europe were down, and the Dow is set to open flat.

U.S.

Nasdaq has been officially diagnosed as suffering from a correction, Wall Street's euphemism for the carnage of a 10 percent decline. But the real plague nagging the Nasdaq is the possibility of a raise in interest rates, compounded by seasonal blues and the hangover from a pre-earnings run-up in prices.

The Thursday release of second-quarter nonfarm productivity data, scheduled for 10 a.m. EDT, and Friday's report on July jobs growth will attract more attention than usual, following Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's recent comments on productivity and its role in quelling inflation.

HomeStore.com (Nasdaq: HOMS), priced at $20, Interactive Pictures (Nasdaq: IPIX)priced at $18, and Internet Capital Group (Nasdaq: ICGE) at $12 are all set to test their muster on this week's morose markets.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Thursday's most actively traded issues: GoTo.com Inc. (Nasdaq: GOTO), Go2Net Inc. (Nasdaq: GNET), LSI Logic Corp. (NYSE: LSI) and Teleglobe Inc. (NYSE: TGO).

Leading Internet stocks took steep losses again Wednesday as Wall Street continues to turn its back on the erratic sector. The Dow Jones industrial average trimmed off 3 points to close at 10,674.77 while the Nasdaq lost 48 points to end at 2,539.93.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may edge slightly higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was up 0.2 points to 1309 at 7:45 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index fell 8.91 to 255.90.

Asia

Trading in Asia was on a downswing. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.85 percent to 17,358, Singapore's Strait Times index lost 2.89 percent to 2,082 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 2.48 percent to 13,254 on rumors of more China-Taiwan tension.

Europe

European markets were also looking down. London's FTSE 100 fell 1.87 percent to 6,119. The CAC 40 in Paris slipped 1.46 percent to 4,263 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was down 2.21 percent to 5,006 at 6:50 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.