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Wall St. set to cheer techs
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June 23, 2000: 6:46 a.m. ET
Investors mull Micron earnings, Rambus patent deal, new Nabisco bid
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Positive developments in the tech sector and possible new bids for acquisition targets could point Wall Street toward an advance Friday.
Early indications suggested U.S. stocks would open higher.
The Nasdaq 100 futures rose 5.50 points to 3,868 in early trading, and the futures were 3.48 points above fair value, a benchmark set daily by traders based on future contracts and their underlying stocks, meaning traders expect a higher open for the Nasdaq market.
S&P 500 futures, the most widely watched futures contract, gained 1.20 points to 1,477.50 on the Globex trading system. That was enough to put the futures 6.17 points above fair value, suggesting a higher open for that broad index of large-cap stocks.
The S&P futures are also watched as an indicator of the Dow Jones industrial average, with one point of difference between the futures index and fair value equal to about eight points on the Dow. So the S&P futures suggested the Dow would open up about 49 points.
 On Thursday, U.S. stocks finished sharply lower, led by tech and financial issues. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 127.17 points, or 3.1 percent, to 3,936.84, while the Dow Jones industrial average dropped 121.62 points, or 1.2 percent, to 10,376.12. The S&P 500 index fell 26.95 points, or 1.8 percent, to 1,452.18.
In Asia Friday, major markets closed lower. Meanwhile major markets were mixed in morning trading in Europe.
In the Treasury market, the 30-year bond slid 4/32 of a point in price in early trading. That sent its yield, which moves in the opposite direction, up to 5.97 percent from 5.96 percent late Thursday. Meanwhile the 10-year note, which some observers now consider their Treasury benchmark, fell 2/32 of a point, which left its yield little changed at 6.12 percent.
In the currency market, the dollar weakened slightly versus the euro and yen in early trading. The euro rose to 93.75 cents from 93.69 cents in late trading Thursday. Meanwhile, the dollar fell to 104.40 yen from 104.44.
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In company news, memory chip maker Micron Technology (MU: Research, Estimates) easily beat earnings forecasts for its fiscal third quarter, as sales more than doubled from the earlier period. Shares of Micron fell 3-7/8 to 86-7/8 in Thursday trading, and were off another 1/4 in pre-market trading on Instinet Friday morning.
 Chip maker Rambus (RMBS: Research, Estimates) was up sharply in after-hours trading after it reported settlement of a patent license dispute under which Japan's Hitachi Ltd. has agreed to pay a licensing fee for Rambus' technology, which deals with high-speed memory interfaces used in some semiconductors.
Shares climbed 39-1/2 to 136-5/8 on Island ECN, and gained 37-7/8 to 135 on MarketXT in after-hours trading, after closing up 4-1/2 in regular-hours trading.
Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) agreed with Justice Department attorneys late Thursday afternoon to speed up the appeal of its antitrust case. The company will file its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court by July 26, rather than a previous Aug. 14 deadline, although it will still ask that the case be heard first by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Government attorneys continue to argue the case should go straight to the high court.
Shares of Microsoft fell 13/16 to 79-1/8 in Thursday trading.
Financier Carl Icahn said he could raise his bid for Nabisco Group Holdings (NGH: Research, Estimates) to $31 a share from his current $28 a share offer, and added that he had been told his bid is still in the running. He made the statements in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing comes as other companies are bidding for Nabisco Holdings (NA: Research, Estimates), the operating company that is 80 percent owned by NGH and is NGH's only holding.
Shares of NGH edged up 1/16 to 25 in Thursday trading, while Nabisco Holdings shares fell 1-11/16 to 51-9/16.
The Financial Times reported Friday that some shareholders of the record company EMI have asked for a delay in voting on a $20 billion combination with Warner Music amid growing anticipation of a higher counter offer.
Shares of EMI fell 5.5 pence to 653 pence in London trading Friday morning, while shares of Time Warner Inc. (TMX: Research, Estimates), parent of both Warner Music and CNNfn, closed down 1-13/16 to 81-5/8 in Thursday trading.
Shareholders of both Time Warner and America Online (AOL: Research, Estimates) are expected to vote on AOL's $125 billion purchase of Time Warner at separate meetings Friday. AOL shares closed down 1 Thursday at 56-1/2. 
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