Analyst Sees 1Q Below Expectations For Some

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ¿ First-quarter results for some industrial companies will be below expectations as there was little economic improvement in March, an analyst said Wednesday.

However, Yvonne M. Varano of Jefferies & Co. said in a note to investors that shares of several industrial companies have increased recently due to rising optimism and institutional investors seeking opportunities.

"We believe the run-up in many industrial related shares in recent weeks has as much to do with increased optimism as with the need of institutional investors to get off the sidelines and put money to work," Varano said.

Varano said several broad indicators "are showing signs of leveling off, potentially indicating a bottom."

"A definite uptick, however, is yet to be evident," she said.

In addition, she said demand still is generally weak.

"While stimulus spending, easing of credit and destocking of inventories should provide a boost in the back-half of the year, we believe that some expectations surrounding a better second half of 2009 may still be aggressive."

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