NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks are seen ticking higher at the open on Tuesday as investors await retail sales data and step lightly ahead of earnings reports from key companies such as No. 1 computer chip maker Intel Corp. (NasdaqNM:INTC - news).
Sentiment was lifted somewhat by a number of upbeat earnings releases after the close on Monday from companies such as online brokerage E-Trade Group Inc. (NYSE:ET - news), which helped push stocks up in after-hours trade.
Wall Street also awaited the release ahead of the open of key economic data on retail sales for December, due at 8:30 a.m. EST. Overall, the sales figures are expected to fall 1.4 percent vs. a decline of 3.7 percent in the previous month. Excluding auto sales, the numbers are seen falling 0.1 percent vs. 0.5 percent.
This week marks one of the busiest stretches of the earnings period, with results expected from tech giants Intel, after the close Tuesday. Others reporting this week include International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news) and Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news). Investors are bracing for bad news as the season heats up, with profits overall for the quarter expected to be the worst in a decade -- down more than 22 percent from a year ago.
Intel was a bit higher ahead of the market open, trading at $34.90 vs. a close at $34.84.
Stocks are seen rising modestly at the opening, based on gains in equity-index futures. The Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) December contract added 2.70 points to 1,143, the Nasdaq 100 contact rose 5 points to 1,614.50, and Dow futures rose 17 points to 9,912.
``It looks like a modestly higher opening,'' said Lance Zipper, managing director of equity trading at Brean Murray & Co. ``Intel is reporting, and they are a major part of the tech world; I think we'll wait around to see what they are going to say. If they are on target or a little bit better, I think the market will continue to rally as it started at the beginning of the year.''
In after-hours trade on Monday and early Tuesday, stocks edged upward as investors eyed positive earnings news from E-Trade and rent-to-own store operator Rent-A-Center Inc. (NasdaqNM:RCII - news).
E-Trade rose to $12.80 from $12.20 on the Instinet trading system after it said quarterly profits before charges quadrupled from a year earlier, as cost cuts and gains from banking businesses offset a drop in customer stock trading.
Rent-A-Center climbed to $34 late Monday on Instinet from $30.99 at Monday's close after it said it expects to report fourth-quarter earnings above analysts' estimates and raised its guidance for 2002 based on a rise in same-store sales.
But weighing on the market was Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE:TYC - news), the conglomerate which early on Tuesday reported a rise in fiscal first-quarter earnings but warned its current quarterly earnings would fall below Wall Street consensus estimates. Shares closed up 2.15 at $52.40 Monday but fell to $50.50 in pre-open trade Tuesday.
A number of second-tier economic reports are also due either side of the 9.30 a.m. market open. They include retail chain store sales for the week ended Jan. 12 as reported by the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg as well as U.S. retail sales at discount, chain and department stores from Instinet Research, covering the same week.
On Monday, stocks sagged amid persistent worries about Corporate America's dwindling profits and advice from Wall Street house Merrill Lynch to cut back on stocks.
On Monday, the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) fell 31.72 points, or 1.57 percent, to 1,990.74, closing below the psychologically key 2,000 mark for the first time since Jan. 2. The decline was led by firms such as Web gear giant Cisco Systems Inc. (NasdaqNM:CSCO - news), down 58 cents at $19.63, and network computing company Sun Microsystems (NasdaqNM:SUNW - news), off 26 cents at $13.06.
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial average (.DJI) slid 96.11 points, or 0.96 percent, to 9,891.42, and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 (.SPX) declined 7.19 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,138.41.
In overseas markets on Tuesday, Tokyo's TOPIX index (.TOPX) ended at a 39-month low, with tech issues such as Kyocera Corp following their U.S. peers south and the failure of yet another company rekindling concerns about credit risk.
Kyocera, a maker of cellphones, office equipment and digital cameras, lost 5.54 percent, helping shove the TOPIX index of all first-section issues back 1.96 percent. or 19.62 points, to 980.32.
European shares clambered into positive territory by midsession on Tuesday, lifted by strong utilities and telecoms, but steel companies sank after ThyssenKrupp's profit warning, with insurers also weak.
At 8:10 a.m. EST, the Eurotop 300 (.FTEU3) index of Europe's leading blue chips was up 0.2 percent at 1,219 points, still anchored in the middle of a range set last October. The narrower Euro Stoxx 50 (.STOXX50E) was up 0.3 percent.
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