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MARKET PREVIEW: Nets' recovery hinges on retail data

2 min read

All hope for a Tuesday recovery for Monday's hammered-down techs rests on economic data to be released before the bell. Asia was mixed on the strong Yen, Europe moved up, and the Dow is set to open slightly higher.

U.S.

The Fed, and all investors trying to guess its next interest rate move, will be watching for data on August retail sales to emerge at 8:30 a.m. ET. The index is expected to have jumped 0.8 percent, compared with 0.7 percent a month earlier. Excluding auto sales, which are supposed to be the biggest factor behind the leap, retail sales are expected to have climbed 0.4 percent, versus 0.3 percent a month earlier. Though the Commerce Department's report could spark a rally if numbers are better than expected, the market is still likely to hold back ahead of Wednesday's consumer price index.

Economic data will overshadow earnings again, though Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) may rise on expectations it will announce profit of 16 cents a share later Tuesday. Electronic components manufacturer Solectron Corp. (NYSE: SLR) added a kick to its earnings late Monday by announcing it will buy Smart Modular Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: SMOD) for $2 billion in stock.

The IPO drought is about to be relieved as PurchasePro.com (Nasdaq: PPRO) scatters 4 million shares to the day's unpredictable winds. The e-commerce specialist has priced them at $12 each, the middle of a $11 to $13 range.

=Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: LookSmart Ltd. (Nasdaq: LOOK), Modem Media Poppe Tyson (Nasdaq: MMPT), Network Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: NSOL), Oracle Corp. (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Solectron Corp. (NYSE: SLR).

After leading the Nasdaq composite to a record close last week, leading Internet stocks were hammered Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average managed to close up 2 points to 11,030.33 while the Nasdaq shed 42 points to end at 2,844.79.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 16 points higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was up 2.0 points to 1364 at 7:35 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index sank 9.0 to 303.61.

Asia

Trading in Asia was mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.74 percent to 17,772, as the Yen reached a three-year high of 106.03 against the dollar overnight. Singapore's Strait Times index rose 0.15 percent to 2,143 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.41 percent to 13,804.

Europe

European markets were moving up. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.46 percent to 6,198. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.40 percent to 4,736 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 0.54 percent to 5,477 at 6:50 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.