MARKET PREVIEW: Microsoft may join rally

The worst should be over for Microsoft Monday, as the software giant may join techs in continuing last week's rally. Asian and European markets were up, and the Dow is set to open flat.

U.S.

Now that the government has announced its intention to break Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) in two, investors may buy back in to the software giant. A split of the company into a Windows and a software applications operation could allow the businesses to get better market valuation.

Earnings season continues Monday with reports from Barnes & Noble.com Inc. (Nasdaq: BNBN), Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR) and Expedia Inc. (Nasdaq: EXPE), i3 mobile (Nasdaq: IIIM) and Pegasus Systems (Nasdaq: PEGS) due out.

Economic report include the National Association of Purchasing Management index, which is expected to have slipped to 55.5 in April from 55.8 in March.

The technology stocks to be among Monday's most actively traded issues include: Barnesandnoble.com, Microsoft and Solectron.

Technology stocks ended the week on a positive note Friday as the Nasdaq composite moved up 87 points to 3,860.67. The Dow Jones industrial average closed off 154 points to 10,733.91 as investors bailed out of old-economy issues.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open flat. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was at a 0 Point change, or to 1460 at 7:31 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was up 11 to 512.27.

Asia

Trading in Asia was on an upswing. The Nikkei 225 rose 2.39 to 18,403, Singapore's Strait Times index gained 0.58 percent to 2,164 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.15 percent to 15,519.

Europe

European markets were also moving ahead. London's FTSE 100 climbed 2.40 percent to 6,327. The CAC 40 in Paris slipped 2.75 percent to 6,419 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 2.67 percent to 7,414 at 6:53 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.