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Wall St. may get Dell lift
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April 5, 2001: 7:53 a.m. ET
PC maker's reaffirmation of outlook seen boosting tech stocks at open
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - All Dell Computer did was repeat its earnings outlook for the first quarter. But that may be enough to send U.S. technology stocks out of their recent spinout Thursday.
The Nasdaq-100 futures, a proxy for the tech-laden Nasdaq market, rose about 3 percent in before-hours trading. Standard & Poor's futures gained nearly 2 percent, after taking fair value into account, signaling a sharply higher open for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average
 Dell Computer (DELL: down $1.25 to $22.19, Research, Estimates) revealed late Wednesday that it expects to meet fiscal first-quarter profit and revenue forecasts. The fact that it isn't reducing its outlook is apparently encouragement enough for investors who have been battered in recent weeks by tech company warnings. Dell doesn't have guidance for what's going to happen in the rest of the fiscal year.
Dell stock rose as high as $24 in before-hours trading, from about $23.63 in after-hours trading Wednesday.
Another day, another nearly 2-1/2 year low for the Nasdaq composite index. It starts the session at 1,638.80 after a 2 percent drop Wednesday. By contrast, the Dow Jones industrial average, at 9,515.42, begins with positive momentum after a nearly 30-point rise. The S&P 500 is just above the 1,100 mark following a 3-point decline.
Aside from Dell, U.S. markets may be also be encouraged by a third straight day of gains for Tokyo's Nikkei index; several other Asian markets were closed for a holiday. Dell gave a boost to European markets in early trading.
Treasury prices were mixed early Thursday. The 10-year note fell, lowering the yield to 4.94 percent from 4.96 percent late Wednesday. But the 30-year bond yield was little changed, yielding 5.50 percent.
The dollar fell more than one yen but edged up against the euro. Brent oil futures rose 2 cents to $25.74 a barrel in London.
 Dell didn't put an end to Wall Street's warning trend. FedEx (FDX: up $0.60 to $39.60, Research, Estimates) , the package delivery service, said late Wednesday that fiscal fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than expected due to reduced use of its services in the economic downturn.
Alcoa (AA: up $1.10 to $35.55, Research, Estimates) reported first-quarter profits of 46 cents a share, down from 47 cents a share a year earlier, but above Wall Street forecasts of 43 cents a share. The world's largest aluminum producer was the first of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones industrial average to report.
Akamai Technologies (AKAM: up $0.19 to $6.00, Research, Estimates) the maker of multimedia software for the Web, said that while first-quarter revenue will be below expectations, its loss for the quarter will be less than expected.
Elsewhere, Suiza Foods (SZA: up $0.05 to $46.44, Research, Estimates) agreed to buy dairy products rival Dean Foods (DF: down $0.03 to $32.50, Research, Estimates) for $1.5 billion in stock and cash, as well as the assumption of $1 billion in debt, a deal that would create a company with annual sales of about $10 billion.
-- from staff and wire reports 
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