NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Technology stocks will likely be in the spotlight Tuesday as investors react to disappointing news from one chipmaker ahead of quarterly results from the sector leader Intel later in the day.

At 8 a.m. ET, S&P and Nasdaq futures indicated weakness at the open on Wall Street.

Intel (Research) reports its fourth-quarter results after the bell. The company is expected to have earned 31 cents per share, up from 27 cents a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call.

Intel's numbers and any guidance about future market trends will garner extra scrutiny especially in the wake of a warning Monday from Advanced Micro Devices (Research) which warned that tough competition in the memory-chip market would push its fourth-quarter revenue below Wall Street's expectations.

Due later in the week are quarterly results from two other closely watched tech components Apple Computer (Research) and Sun Microsystems (Research).

Stocks finished higher Monday as a tech rally boosted the Nasdaq and lifted the broader market. The Nasdaq rose 7.87 points while the Dow gained 17.07 points.

Treasuries were little changed in early trading, with the 10-year note yield at 4.28 percent late Monday. The dollar continued to rebound against the euro but was weaker against the yen.

Oil prices were little changed. The U.S. light crude contract was flat at $45.33 a barrel in electronic trading, while Brent crude pulled back 2 cents to $42.90.

Overseas, Asian stocks ended mixed; Japan's Nikkei index hit a six month high led by strength in tech stocks; European markets were mostly lower in morning activity.

In other corporate news, the world's largest computing company IBM (Research) said late Monday it will give free and open access to 500 software patents to anyone working on open-source software, a move that marks a major shift in the company's intellectual property strategy.

Cellphone maker Nokia (Research) delivered some dour news Tuesday saying that it expects to cut hundreds of jobs in Finland and other countries as part of its plan to curb spending in research and development. Nokia said the move would hit its first-quarter results.

There are no major economic reports on tap for Tuesday. However, the docket is full for the rest of the week.

Due Wednesday is the November U.S. trade deficit. The trade gap is expected to narrow to $53.0 billion from $55.5 billion in October, according to economists' forecasts.

Wall Street will also be closely watching December retail sales numbers slated for release Thursday for a clearer indication of how the 2004 holiday shopping season fared overall. Sales are expected to have risen 0.7 percent after rising 0.1 percent in November. Excluding autos, sales are expected to have risen 0.4 percent after rising 0.5 percent the prior month.