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U.S. techs hold gains
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February 6, 2001: 4:30 p.m. ET
JDS Uniphase, SDL spark buying but caution pares gains ahead of Cisco
By Staff Writer Catherine Tymkiw
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. technology stocks rose modestly Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead of tech bellwether Cisco Systems' quarterly results, which were released after the market closed.
Most anticipated Cisco would meet expectations – expectations that in fact were not met -- but nervousness persisted about what the company would say in terms of forward guidance.
Also, a dearth of market-moving events after a week in which investors were inundated with economic developments left some wondering how the rest of the year will unfold. That uncertainty prompted selling in financial issues.
 "We're in a light week that's light on news, light on earnings and light on volume," said Alan Ackerman, senior vice president of Fahnestock & Co. "Most of the attention is focused on Cisco. The techs have been sprightly but they've left a bit to be desired."
Investors hoped, once Cisco's report was released, that there would be no more bad news coming from the heavyweights in the tech sector. But technology stocks may be in for a rough ride. After the market closed, Cisco (CSCO: Research, Estimates) reported earnings of 18 cents a share, excluding one-time items.
Analysts surveyed by First Call expected Cisco to report earnings of 19 cents a share, surpassing the 12 cents a share earned a year earlier. Shares of Cisco rose $1.19 to $35.75, ahead of its report.
The Nasdaq composite index broke a two-session losing streak to rise 21.28 points to 2,664.49. News that U.S. regulators cleared the way for JDS Uniphase and SDL Inc. to merge prompted the buying, but gains were tempered by the end of the session as investors displayed caution ahead of Cisco's report.
 The Dow Jones industrial average shed 8.43 to 10,957.42. The blue chip index gave back earlier gains in the last hour of trading, led by interest-rate sensitive financial issues, amid concerns about how aggressive the Federal Reserve would be with its interest rate policy. The S&P 500 slipped 2.05 to 1,352.26.
Despite the late selling, the market's recent resiliency indicates that stocks are poised to move higher, Richard Cripps, chief market strategist with Legg Mason, told CNNfn's market coverage. (434K WAV) (434K AIFF)
Market breadth was positive. Advancers beat decliners on the New York Stock Exchange 1,665 to 1,406, as more than 1.05 billion shares changed hands. On the Nasdaq, winners outpaced losers 1,888 to 1,876, as more than 1.6 billion shares were traded.
In other markets, Treasury securities fell. The dollar was little changed against the euro and the yen.
Getting past Cisco
Cisco Systems, the No. 1 supplier of computer hardware used to route traffic over the Internet, was the main focus on investors minds Tuesday.
"There's not a lot else going on, so something like Cisco takes on added importance," Jim Waggoner, chief market strategist with Sands Brothers & Co., told CNNfn's Market Call. "It's important, not so much for the numbers, but for the nuance."
 But Ned Riley, chief investment strategist with State Street Global Advisors, said investors already were looking beyond Cisco's earnings.
"I think they're waiting for Cisco, but they're also injecting their own level of certainty about the third quarter as being the turning point for the front end of technology stocks," Riley said.
JDS Uniphase, SDL boost techs
Focusing on individual corporate stories for a reason to buy, JDS Uniphase (JDSU: Research, Estimates) jumped $2 to $52, with the company saying U.S. regulators cleared its planned $17.7 billion merger with SDL (SDLI: Research, Estimates) after JDS agreed to sell a plant to Nortel Networks (NT: Research, Estimates) for about $3 billion to address antitrust concerns.
Shares of SDL gained $11.13 to $196.50 while shares of Nortel slid 25 cents to $35.51.
Among Dow components, technology stocks IBM (IBM: Research, Estimates) rose $1.97 to $114.19, and Hewlett-Packard (HWP: Research, Estimates) rose $1.50 to $36.80.
But financial issues offset the gains. J.P. Morgan (JPM: Research, Estimates) shed $2.32 to $52.28, American Express (AXP: Research, Estimates) fell $1.42 to $46.99 and Citigrioup (C: Research, Estimates) slid $1.17 to $55.13.
 But Applied Micro Circuits (AMCC: Research, Estimates) tumbled $9.31 to $55.06 after the communications chipmaker repeated its guidance for the March and June quarters, but added it was "on alert" because of some order cancellations.
In other corporate results, Walt Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates) rose $1.18 to $31.61 after the entertainment company reported fiscal first-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share, beating expectations by a penny. 
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