Wall St. tries to connect

January 23, 2002 Posted: 1353 GMT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -- An upbeat outlook from cell phone maker Motorola and several other technology companies may be enough to lift stocks from 10-week lows early Wednesday.

Initial signs point to a modest gain for the major indexes when trading begins.

Shares of Motorola (MOT: Research, Estimates) rose 9 cents to $14.01 early Wednesday after saying its operating loss in the fourth quarter was a narrower-than-expected 4 cents a share, versus a profit of 15 cents a share a year earlier.

In addition, Motorola said it will return to profitability in the second half of this year.

In other early gainers, shares of Emulex (EMLX: Research, Estimates)  rose $3.74 to $42.34 after the maker of data storage gear raised its outlook for the rest of year.

Investors started Tuesday's session with generally positive news about the tech sector, after online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: Research, Estimates) posted its first-ever profit and telecom equipment maker Lucent Technologies (LU: Research, Estimates) reported a narrower-than-expected loss. But the bankruptcy filing by No. 2 discount retailer Kmart (KM: Research, Estimates)  and warning signals from European tech companies sent the markets toward losses.

The Dow Jones industrial average commences Wednesday trading at  9,713.80, its lowest point since Nov. 12, following a 58-point drop Tuesday. The Nasdaq composite index starts at 1,882.53, having lost almost 48 points, also its lowest close since Nov. 12.

The Standard & Poor's 500 stock index begins at 1,119.31 after a slip of more than 8 points.

Major Asian stock markets closed lower Wednesday, with Japanese bank stocks hurt by Kmart's bankruptcy filing. European stocks opened lower as investors digested technology earnings.

Treasury prices edged lower, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 4.96 percent from 4.92 percent Tuesday. The dollar edged up to a three-year high against the yen and also rose versus the euro. Brent oil futures rose 29 cents to $19.04 a barrel in London.

Four Dow components, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, Caterpillar and Boeing, produced fourth-quarter earnings statements early Wednesday.

Chemical maker DuPont (DD: Research, Estimates) said fourth-quarter profit fell to 12 cents a share, or $124 million, topping forecasts. DuPont shares lost 24 cents to $40.44 Tuesday.

Exxon Mobil (XOM: Research, Estimates)  reported fourth-quarter profit fell to 42 cents a share, excluding one-time items, from 73 cents a share a year earlier. But that still topped Wall Street forecasts of 39 cents a share. The company's shares dipped 38 cents to $38.02 Tuesday.

Construction equipment maker Caterpillar's fourth-quarter income came in unchanged at 76 cents a share, matching forecasts. Caterpillar (CAT: Research, Estimates) stock was bulldozed 80 cents to $48.18 Tuesday.

Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates), the biggest aircraft manufacturer, met expectations when earnings dropped to 90 cents a share from $1.01 a share in the final quarter of 2000. The stock advanced 63 cents to $39.78 Tuesday.

Drugmaker Pfizer (PFE: Research, Estimates)  said quarterly earnings rose to $2.1 billion, or 34 cents a share, matching forecasts. Pfizer's shares added 70 cents to $40.80 Tuesday.

Merrill Lynch (MER: Research, Estimates)  reported fourth-quarter profit of 48 cents a share excluding one-time items, down sharply from a year earlier but in line with Wall Street forecasts. Shares of the No. 1 brokerage fell $1.45 to $55.01 Tuesday.

Dynegy (DYN: Research, Estimates), the energy trader that tried to buy Enron and then backed out of the deal when word of accounting problems surfaced, posted rising profit that matched forecasts. Dynegy stock fell 1 cent to $23.30 Tuesday.

Mercury Interactive (MERQ: Research, Estimates)  shares rose $3.71 to $33 before-hours trading after profit in the software maker's fourth-quarter came in at 14 cents a share, topping forecasts.

After trading concludes, Corning (GLW: Research, Estimates) is due to report results. The maker of optical fiber equipment is forecast to have lost 29 cents a share in the latest quarter, compared with earnings of 34 cents a share a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call. Corning stock fell 17 cents to $8.46 in Tuesday's session.