MIDDAY MARKETS: Intel expectations depress techs

Intel led a tech decline at midday Tuesday, as investors anticipated a gloomy fourth quarter earnings report from the chip maker. The Nasdaq shed 37.04 to 2,589.46 and the Dow Jones industrial average was up 7.72 to 10,533.10.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index fell 4 to 298.69.

Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) was off 0.83 to 27.45 after announcing it would snap up Xircom (Nasdaq: XIRC), up 6.5 to 24.56, for $748 million. The chip giant is also expected to report lackluster results after the closing bell this afternoon. Intel has already issued a profit warning.

Globalstar's (Nasdaq: GSTRF), down 0.91 to 1, said its efforts to conserve cash produced a ripple effect Tuesday for companies such as Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), down 2.63 to 69.19 and Loral (NYSE: LOR), down 0.44 to 4.63.

Shares of Xpedior Inc. (Nasdaq: XPDR) moved up 0.5 to 1.25 Tuesday after the company inked a strategic alliance agreement with Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HWP), down 0.38 to 30.31. The deal designates both companies as providers for BroadVision (Nasdaq: BVSN), up 0.56 to 16.38, products.

Parametric Technology Corp. (Nasdaq: PMTC), down 1.13 to 15, topped earnings estimates for its first quarter Tuesday, but revenue slipped year-over year. The company also inked a deal with EMC Corp.(NYSE: EMC), up 2 to 70.81.

Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) fell 0.25 to 37.81, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) fell 0.75 to 32.25 and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) fell 1.5 to 52.

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) was unchanged at 17.68, AOL (NYSE: AOL) gained 0.68 to 47.15 and Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) rose 0.89 to 27.45.