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MARKET PREVIEW: Techs eye the polls

2 min read

A pre-election rally may get foiled by results from Cisco Tuesday. Asian and European markets were mixed, and the Dow is set to open slightly higher.

U.S.

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) moved lower in overnight trading and was down 2 percent on the Island ECN before market open Tuesday, despite having beat estimates by a penny, and boosting 2001 earnings targets. Investors were concerned over weaker sales to telecom providers and a slow-down in new hires.

Blue-chips could get a boost if things look favorable for the Republican candidate; George W. Bush has said he is for more oil exploration and will initiate more business-friendly tax cuts. Biotech and pharmaceutical stocks, two sectors expected to prosper if Bush is elected, rallied Monday. Vice President Al Gore, who says his tax cuts are broader, is considered a technology-friendly candidate.

Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE) may also get some attention; shares rose in after- hours trading after the graphic-design software maker said it raised its operating margin for the year ending in November 2001.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: Autoweb.com, Cisco Systems and VoiceStream Wireless.

>Blue-chip stocks made healthy gains Monday as the Dow Jones industrial average moved up 159 points to 10,977.21. The Nasdaq composite fell 35 points to 3,416.39.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 30.44 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 4.0 to 1442.5 at 7:31 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was down 5 to 458.14.

Asia

Trading in Asia was mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.20 percent to 15,340.33, Singapore's Strait Times index rose 0.76 percent to 2,021.30 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.95 percent to 15,693.50.

Europe

European markets were falling. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.30 percent to 6,450. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.22 percent to 6,366.36 while the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.99 percent to 7,065.97 at 6:57 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.