MARKET PREVIEW: Can techs sustain rally?

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

2 min read

Now that techs are free from Fed worries, investors will be watching to see if they can sustain yesterday's late-day rally. Asian markets were up, Europe was mixed, and the Dow is set to open slightly lower.

U.S.

The Fed did as expected Tuesday and raised interest rates by a quarter-point. The move seemed to relieve investors, who bid both the Dow and Nasdaq higher. With no economic reports to cloud their outlook, and news that Abby Joseph Cohen, co-chair of Goldman Sachs' investment policy committee and one of Wall Street's most respected strategists has upped her price target for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index in to 1,575 from 1,525, the markets are likely to see blue sky Wednesday.

On the earnings front, computer memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology (NYSE: MU) may get some negative attention after it reported disappointing second-quarter results Tuesday.

Phoenix Technologies (Nasdaq: PTEC) spin off InSilicon (Nasdaq: INSN) will make its IPO Wednesday, with shares priced at $12, above their range.

PSINet Inc. (Nasdaq: PSIX) announced before the bell a deal to buy Metamor Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq: MMWW) for about $1.9 billion.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Wednesday's most actively traded issues: Interplay, Liberate Technologies and Micron Technology.

After the Fed raised interest rates Tuesday, the Dow shot up 227 points to 10,907.34 while the Nasdaq charged up 101 points to 4,711.06.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open about 12 points lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was down 1.6 points to 1505 at 7:41 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was up 28 to 647.57.

Asia

Trading in Asia was moving up. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.67 percent to 19,733, Singapore's Strait Times index gained 0.71 percent to 2,134 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 2.02 percent to 17,547.

Europe

European markets were moving in different directions. London's FTSE 100 lost 0.15 percent to 6,608. The CAC 40 in Paris gained 1.17 percent to 6,394 and the Xetra DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.14 percent to 7,897 at 7:11 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.