Wall St. taps into techs

January 15, 2002 Posted: 1354 GMT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- U.S. stocks look set to open higher Tuesday, as investors received some good news from stronger-than-expected December retail data ahead of a batch of quarterly report cards from technology components including Intel, eBay and Juniper Networks.

At 8:45 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq-100 and the Standard & Poor's 500 futures pointed to initial gains for the major indexes after the Dow Jones industrials fell for the sixth straight session Monday.

December retail sales fell 0.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted $295.1 billion, the Commerce Department said, after falling a revised 3 percent in November. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com expected sales to drop 1.2 percent. Excluding auto sales, retail sales still declined 0.1 percent last month.

No. 1 chipmaker Intel (INTC: Research, Estimates) is expected to report a decline in profit to 11 cents a share from 38 cents in the final quarter of 2000, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by the research firm First Call. Intel rose 21 cents to $35.05 in before-hours trading Tuesday.

Also due is online auction specialist eBay (EBAY: Research, Estimates), whose earnings are expected to have risen to 13 cents a share from 9 cents a year earlier. Shares of eBay gained 34 cents to $63.50 in before-hours trading Tuesday.

Other technology companies due to report results after the close include telecom equipment maker Juniper Networks (JNPR: Research, Estimates) and online advertising specialist DoubleClick (DCLK: Research, Estimates). Juniper shed 7 cents to $18.02 in before-hours trading Tuesday, while DoubleClick shares gained 15 cents to $12.50.

The Dow Jones industrials start the day at 9,891.42 following Monday's 96-point decline. The Nasdaq composite index is below the 2,000 mark again, at 1,990.74, following a loss of 32 points, while the Standard & Poor's 500 begins at 1,138.41 after dropping 7 points.

Asian stocks tumbled Tuesday, partly in response to the losses on Wall Street. European stock markets opened with declines.

Treasury prices fell in early trading, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 4.88 percent from 4.87 percent late Monday. The dollar gained against the euro but weakened versus the yen. Brent oil futures rose 10 cents to $19.03 a barrel in London.

Tyco International (TYC: Research, Estimates) posted a higher fiscal first-quarter profit, in line with Wall Street expectations, as the diversified manufacturer benefited from strong demand of its fire and security products and services. But shares of Tyco fell $1.70 to $50.70 in before-hours trading Tuesday because it warned about its second-quarter results.

Wells Fargo (WFC: Research, Estimates) posted higher fourth-quarter earnings than a year earlier that edged Wall Street expectations as the bank continued to expand. The company's shares slipped 28 cents to $43.02 Monday.

No. 1 fiber-optic cable maker Corning (GLW: Research, Estimates) said Monday it expects to report a wider fourth-quarter loss than it previously predicted. The reason is a pretax operating charge related to the release of restrictions on employee-held stock, an inventory write-off and an investment write-off. Corning shares fell 32 cents to $9.49 in before-hours trading Tuesday.

Marconi (MONI: Research, Estimates), the loss-making British telecom equipment maker, said Monday it may cut another 4,000 jobs as telecom operators slash spending. Marconi shed 1 cent to $1.11 in before-hours trading Tuesday.