MARKET PREVIEW: Techs eye retail data

Investors will look to Tuesday's retail data in hopes of another sign the economy may be cooling. Asian markets were down, Europe was mixed, and the Dow is set to open lower.

U.S.

May's report on store sales could revive last week's rally if it shows a slow-down in the economu, indicating that the Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates again when it meets at the end of this month. The data is expected to show retail sales were unchanged in May, after a 0.2 percent decline in April, and that sales excluding autos rose 0.4 percent in May, compared to unchanged levels in April.

Fed watchers will also have their ears perked for comments by Chairman Alan Greenspan, who is set to speak via satellite Tuesday afternoon to the New York Association for Business Economics.

On the earnings front CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) and Fatbrain (Nasdaq: FATB) will report quarterly results.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Engage Technologies, Fatbrain.com, NBCi and Solectron.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) may also see some attention after Michael Dell, chairman, chief executive and founder of the company, told CNBC Tuesday he sees a year of robust growth ahdead.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 79 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 11 to 1473 at 7:31 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was down 20 to 475.69.

Asia

Trading in Asia was on a downswing. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.39 to 16,914, Singapore's Strait Times index dropped 1.15 percent to 2018 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 2.26 percent to 16,952.

Europe

European markets were mixed. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.51 percent to 6,063. The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.14 percent to 6,558 and the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.06 percent to 7,231 at 7:05 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.