MARKET PREVIEW: IPOs outshine Fed worries

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

2 min read

If IPOs are any gauge of the market's mood, techs aren't going to be discouraged by Tuesday's Fed meeting. Asian markets moved up, European markets were down, and the Dow is set to open unchanged.

U.S.

The Federal Reserve kicks off its two day meeting Tuesday, with a decision on interest rates expected by Wednesday. After months of signs that the economy is slowing, investors have already assumed the Fed won't be raising rates at the meeting.

The market for initial public offerings was showing renewed strength; Marvell Technology (Nasdaq: MRVL), Stratos Lightwave (Nasdaq: STLW), eFUNDS (Nasdaq: EFDS) and Click Commerce (Nasdaq: CKCM) all priced for debut Tuesday.

A couple of deals will also inspire trading Tuesday; Media Metrix Inc. (Nasdaq: MMXI) is snapping up rival Jupiter Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: JPTR) for about $414 million in stock, and Ariba (Nasdaq: ARBA) has said it will buy privately held SupplierMarket.com for about $581 million in stock. Concern over Worldcom Inc.'s (Nasdaq: WCOM) proposed $120 billion purchase of Sprint Corp. (NYSE: FON) may result from a statement made by a European Competition Commissioner, who said he will recommend rejecting the deal.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among the most actively traded issues: Ariba, GoAmerica and Network Peripherals.

Technology stocks made sharp gains in late trading as the Nasdaq composite closed up 67 points to 3,912.11. The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 138 points to 10,542.99.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average may open flat. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for June futures contracts was unchanged, resting at 1479 at 7:41 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index was up 7 to 483.09.

Asia

Trading in Asia was moving up. The Nikkei 225 rose 2.09 to 17,279, Singapore's Strait Times index gained o.46 percent to 2,036 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.11 percent to 16,155.

Europe

European markets were moving down. London's FTSE 100 fell 0.05 percent to 6,402. The CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.56 percent to 6,549 and the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.38 percent to 7,000 at 6:57 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.