MARKET PREVIEW: Techs try to contain themselves

Expect techs to stay in hiding Tuesday morning, though the afternoon's celebration is anything but a surprise party; after weeks of expecting a 25 basis point hike, investors are just waiting to celebrate its arrival. Asia and Europe were mixed, and the Dow is set to open slightly lower.

U.S.

Techs couldn't hold back Monday, and let out a small rally, as Wall Street called the Fed's next big play only one small, neutral hike for the rest of the year. The market should show some restraint Tuesday ahead of the announcement from the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee, expected at about 2:15 p.m. ET.

The anticipated rate hike may be overshadowed by an announcement of the central bank's policy bias, if the FOMC exercises its option to announce it. In the case of a neutral bias, techs are likely to stage a repeat performance of their party June 30, when the Fed hiked rates a quarter point and announced a noncommittal stance on raising or lowering rates down the line.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most actively traded issues: ADC Telecommunications Inc. (Nasdaq: ADCT), Maxtor Corp. (Nasdaq: MXTR), Silicon Graphics Inc. (NYSE: SGI), Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW)and 3dfx Interactive Inc. (Nasdaq: TDFX)

Investors snapped up blue-chip and technology stocks at a frenetic pace Monday, sending the Dow Jones industrial average up 199 points to a record high of 11,299.76. The Nasdaq composite picked up 71 points to 2,719.57.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 20 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 2.4 points to 1363 at 7:35 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 9.04 to 295.99.

Asia

Trading in Asia was mixed. The Nikkei 225 fell 0.76 percent to 18,095, Singapore's Strait Times index lost 0.19 percent to 2,120 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.44 percent to 13,634.

Europe

European markets were also aimless ahead of the U.S. meeting on interest rates. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.36 percent to 6,300. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.37 percent to 4,504 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.17 percent to 5,293 at 6:50 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.