MARKET PREVIEW: Techs look for momentum

Jan. 2, 2002 4:43 p.m. PT

2 min read

Techs will get off to a slow start Monday, without economic news to spur them on. Asia was mixed, Europe moved up, and the Dow is set to open higher.

U.S.

The economic calendar looks quiet this week. The Commerce Department will report Tuesday on the nation's trade deficit in July, and the Federal Reserve will release its "beige book" report on regional economic activity on Wednesday. The U.S. markets may eye overseas action, as the dollar has revived on prospects the Bank of Japan will move to keep the yen in check when it meets Tuesday. The dollar recovered from all-time lows against Japan's currency, rising to 0.55 to 107.86 yen early Monday.

Earnings on deck this week include Cabletron Systems (NYSE: CS), which will unveil its second-quarter results. Cabletron shares have been rekindled by takeover rumors over the past few months, and First Call consensus expects the company to haul in 6 cents a share.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Monday's most actively traded issues: Advanced Micro Devices Inc.(NYSE: AMD), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW).

"Triple-witching" expiration of futures and option contracts helped push blue-chip stocks higher Friday as the Dow Jones industrial average moved up 66 points to 10,803.63 while the Nasdaq roared up 66 points to close at 2,869.64.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 41 points higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was up 5.1 points to 1357 at 7:35 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 5 to 308.18.

Asia

Trading in Asia was down with the exception of the Nikkei 225, which rose 1.34 percent to 17,575 on growing prospects of central bank intervention to head off a strengthening Japanese yen. Singapore's Strait Times index lost 0.42 percent to 2,123 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.09 percent to 13,472.

Europe

European markets were moving up. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.64 percent to 6,078. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 1.23 percent to 4,701 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.08 percent to 5,361 at 7:00 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.