MARKET PREVIEW: Techs braced for more volatility

Techs are braced for another wild ride Tuesday after suffering their second-biggest dip ever Monday. Asian markets were mixed, Europe moved down, and the Dow is set to open flat to slightly lower.

U.S.

The Nasdaq tanked while the Dow made steady gains again Monday, indicating this week may be a repeat performance last week's bumpy ride.

Another batch of earnings will hit the markets Tuesday, as will Monday night's report from wireless communications equipment maker Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT), which posted better-than-expected first quarter profits. Infosys Technology (Nasdaq: INFY), In Focus (Nasdaq: INFS) and Terayon Communication (Nasdaq: TERN) will report results Tuesday.

On the IPO front, Bookham Technology (Nasdaq: BKHM), Healthstream (Nasdaq: HSTM) and Nova Measuring Instruments (Nasdaq: NVMI) are all slated to debut.

The following technology stocks may also be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: ASM Lithography, Fairchild, Motorola and Stamps.com.

Whatever momentum technology stocks had Friday evaporated Monday as the Nasdaq composite fell 258 points to 4,188.18. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 75 points to 11,186.56.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open flat to 2 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 0.2 points to 1521 at 7:31 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was down 39 to 566.65.

Asia

Trading in Asia was mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.47 percent to 20,522, Singapore's Strait Times index gained 0.21 percent to 2,131 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.15 percent to 16,487.

Europe

European markets were moving down. London's FTSE 100 fell 1.15 percent to 6,458. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.96 percent to 6,303 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.50 percent to 7,479 at 7:14 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.