MARKET PREVIEW: Intel to rattle techs

Intel and Motorola will weigh down techs Wednesday, but the next batch of earnings may boost spirits. Asia and Europe tumbled in the wake of Wall Street's decline, and the Dow is set to open lower.

U.S.

The overall decline Tuesday can be blamed on defense and aerospace giant Raytheon Co (NYSE: RTN), which was beaten to a pulp after it warned earnings will fall far below expectations, and, of course, inflation anxiety.

Wednesday the earnings keep on coming, with Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL), Earthlink Network (Nasdaq: ELNK) and DoubleClick (Nasdaq: DCLK) slated to report.

In reports issued late Tuesday, chip maker Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) announced third-quarter earnings that missed the Street's estimates despite record shipments of PC microprocessors. Intel shares closed up Tuesday, rising 3/16 to 76-11/16, but moved lower in aftermarket trading. Though Motorola (NYSE: MOT) reported third-quarter in line with analysts' shares were also weaker ahead of the opening bell.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Wednesday's most actively traded issues: E-Tek Dynamics Inc. (Nasdaq: ETEK), Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ), Hoover's Inc. (Nasdaq: HOOV), Linear Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: LLTC), Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC), Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and Seagate Technology Inc. (NYSE: SEG).

After surging to record levels yesterday, technology stocks pulled back quite a bit Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite shaved off 44 points to close at 2,872.40. Blue-chip stocks didn't fare much better as the Dow lost 231 points to finish at 10,417.06.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 68 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 8.6 points to 1317 at 7:43 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was down 11 to 344.80.

Asia

Asian markets moved down. The Nikkei 225 fell 1.86 percent to 17,754, Singapore's Strait Times index slipped 1.07 percent to 2,096 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng tumbled 2.22 to percent to 12,476.

Europe

European markets were also retreating after Wall Street's decline Tuesday. London's FTSE 100 slipped 1.29 to percent to 6,095. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 1.07 percent to 4,609 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was down 1.47 percent to 5,28o at 7:04 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.