MARKET PREVIEW: Techs to watch Greenspan

Techs will be teetering in expectation of Greenspan's remarks again Wednesday, as he delivers the second half of his semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins speech on monetary policy to Congress. Asia and Europe were up, and the Dow is set to open slightly higher.

U.S.

Markets buoyant from Tuesdays tech rally will be watching every word of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony for clues about what Federal Reserve policyholders will do when they meet to discuss interest rates Aug. 24. Greenspan is slated to speak Wednesday morning.

In other economic news, the Commerce Department is to release data on durable goods orders for June before the market opens. The index is expected to have risen 1 percent, down slightly from 1.2 percent growth a month earlier.

Online pharmacy drugstore.com Inc. (Proposed ticker: DSCM) will hit the market today with five million shares priced at $18 for its initial public offering, above the already upped price range.

Other technology stocks among Wednesday's most industry_list.asp?mode=news&doc_id=ZE500884&pic=Y"actively traded issues may include: Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE: CPQ), scheduled to report earnings, Egghead.com Inc. (Nasdaq: EGGS), Marimba Inc. (Nasdaq: MRBA), MindSpring Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq: MSPG), Mylex Corp. (Nasdaq: MYLX) and TheStreet.com Inc. (Nasdaq: TSCM).

Bargain hunters jumped all over leading technology stocks Tuesday as the Nasdaq composite stormed up 60 points to close at 2,679.68. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied up 116 points to end at 10,979.04.

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 1,365 at 7:30 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 4.28 to 285.

Asia

Trading in Asia was on an upswing. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.67 percent to 17,580, Singapore's Strait Times index grew 3.91 percent to 2,078 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.50 percent to 13,140.

Europe

European markets were also looking up. London's FTSE 100 gained 0.68 percent to 6,306. The CAC 40 in Paris grew 0.39 percent to 4,444 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.52 percent to 5,251 at 6:50 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.