NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. investors will decide Tuesday how to respond to Oracle's earnings report -- whether to reward the tech sector because the business software maker topped Wall Street forecasts or punish techs because its sales narrowly missed estimates.
Early signs pointed to a reward. Nasdaq-100 futures rose sharply, particularly after taking fair value into consideration, indicating an opening advance for the tech-laden Nasdaq market. Standard & Poor's futures rose modestly, pointing to a rise for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average at the start of trading.
Oracle (ORCL: Research, Estimates) reported earnings of 15 cents a share, a penny above average estimates from analysts surveyed by First Call and about equal to the year-earlier quarter. It also said it expects to meet results of a year ago in the first quarter. But the company posted revenue of $3.3 billion, below the $3.4 billion expected.
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 PROFIT WARNINGS
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2Q 2001: 526*
1Q 2001: 935
2Q 2000: 324
*to date
(source: First Call)
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Oracle shares rose $1.38 to $16.12 in after-hours trading Monday following a 16-cent decline in regular hours.
The earnings, and the generally positive outlook presented late Monday by Oracle officials, could give a lift to a technology sector battered for nearly two weeks.
For the first time since April, the Nasdaq composite index stands below 2,000 -- at 1,988.63 -- after a nearly 2 percent decline Monday, its seventh straight losing session. The Dow Jones industrial average starts at 10,645.38 after rising nearly 22 points. The S&P 500 is at 1,208.43 after dropping 6 points.
Asian markets closed mostly lower Tuesday, although Hong Kong managed a broad gain. The Oracle results were credited with giving European markets a boost in early trading.
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MONEY.COM
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Columnist Michael Sivy finds shelter from the stock market storm in real estate investment trusts -- and one in particular.
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Treasury prices edged lower in early trading. The 10-year note yield held steady at 5.24 percent, but the 30-year bond yield rose to 5.70 percent from 5.69 percent late Monday.
The dollar gained against the euro but dipped versus the yen. Brent oil futures rose 7 cents to $27.08 a barrel in London.
Lehman Brothers Holdings (LEH: Research, Estimates) posted unexpectedly strong results for the latest quarter Tuesday, overcoming a slowdown in investment banking, but Goldman Sachs Group (GS: Research, Estimates) reported sharply lower earnings. Goldman was unchanged Monday at $88.65 while Lehman fell 27 cents to $67.30.
In the retail sector, electronics merchant Best Buy (BBY: Research, Estimates) is forecast to report earnings of 23 cents a share, down from 34 cents in the prior year. Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports (PIR: Research, Estimates) reported earnings of 13 cents a share, matching forecasts, down from 17 cents. Best Buy was unchanged at $58.20 Monday; Pier 1 gained 2 cents to $11.82.
After the closing bell, two tech companies are due to report. Jabil Circuit (JBL: Research, Estimates), the maker of circuit boards, is expected to report earnings of 16 cents a share, down from 21 cents a year earlier. Red Hat (RHAT: Research, Estimates), a marketer of Linux operating systems, is expected to break even, an improvement from the 2 cents a share loss a year earlier. Jabil tumbled $2.58 Monday to $23.57, while Red Hat declined 15 cents to $4.36.
AMR (AMR: Research, Estimates), the parent of American Airlines, said late Monday it expects to report a second-quarter loss rather than the profit originally anticipated. It blamed higher energy prices and a sluggish economy. AMR shares were unchanged Monday at $35.92.
On the economic front, the housing market in the United States lost a little strength in May as builders broke ground on fewer new homes, the government reported Tuesday, but that still came in stronger than Wall Street forecasts. 
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