MARKET PREVIEW: Markets await Greenspan

Investors will be watching the Fed Chairman's testimony on Tuesday for signs of possible future interest rate cuts. Trading in both Europe and Asia was mixed, and early indicators have the Dow set to open lower.

U.S.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan is slated to give his semi-annual report on the nation's monetary health before the Senate Banking Committee. Greenspan's testimony, scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST, will be closely watched for clues about possible further interest rate cuts.

The Commerce Department releases January retail sales figures, before the opening bell. According to economists surveyed by Briefing.com, the data is expected to show a 0.5 percent increase for the month, ahead of the 0.1 percent gain in December.

Shares of Applied Materials (Nasdaq: AMAT) may see some action ahead of its fiscal first-quarter earnings, due after the closing bell. Analysts expect the maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to increase earnings per share to 62 cents a share from 39 cents a share a year ago.

Online job site HotJobs.com (Nasdaq: HOTJ) posted a fourth-quarter loss of 19 cents per share, a penny better than the Street's estimate. The company said that sequential revenue growth for the first quarter will slow to 3 percent to 4 percent due to a slowing economy.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Tuesday's most "http:="" www.zdii.com="" industry_list.asp?mode="news&doc_id=ZE507543&pic=Y" "="" rel="">actively traded issues: MarchFirst (Nasdaq: MRCH), Photronics (Nasdaq: PLAB) and PurchasePro.com (Nasdaq: PPRO).

The Nasdaq ended Monday's session up 18.69 to 2,489.66 while the Dow Jones industrial average gained 165.32 to 10,946.77.

At the bell
The Dow Jones industrial average is expected to open down 9 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 futures index slipped 1.10 to 1332.40 at 7:24 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index moved up 5 to 263.80.

Asia
The major Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei 225 and Singapore's Straights Times both fell, down 148.13 to 13,274.70 and 1.39 to 1,988.79, respectively. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 149.61 to 15,842.72.

Europe
European trading was up and down, as well. London's FTSE 100 dropped 14.30 to 6,227.10 and the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 1.27 to 5,758.21. The DAX in Frankfurt inched up 6.42 to 6,571.33 at 7:13 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.