Preopen Trading: Stocks Set to Open Higher

While investors look poised to move markets up, the Nasdaq's spectacular gains from Friday may not hold.

Author:: Ellen Braitman
Publish date:: Dec 26, 2000 7:35 AM EST

Investors headed into the holiday weekend with strong gains in stocks. The

Nasdaq, remember, rose 7% on Friday. This morning, traders look like they're going to drive prices higher again.

Higher, that is, for whomever shows up for work.

It's quiet out there. There's little news. There is no economic data being released today. And preopen trading activity was incredibly quiet. There were only three stocks recently trading on

Instinet

, the electronic brokerage where traders can get in their moves before the market officially opens.

JDS Uniphase

(JDSU)

, the optical component maker, was off 6 cents, or 0.2%, to $40.88. And that was on volume of only 700 shares. Investors turned cold on JDSU on Friday after

Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown

analysts told investors that JDS would likely meet earnings and revenue expectations for its current fiscal second quarter, but that the company may lower its forecast for next year. That set off the selling Friday afternoon, as JDS shares swung more than $10 from an intraday high of $48 to a low of $37. JDS closed down $2.12, or 5%, at $40.93 on a day when other optical plays rallied sharply.

TheStreet.com

wrote a separate story about

Friday's activity.

Battered chipmaker

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

was up 31 cents, or 0.9%, to $33.25. And

Aether Systems

(AETH)

, a provider of wireless data services, was off 2% to $40.

Market watchers aren't sure the latest gains for the major stock market indices can be sustained. The last week of the year is typically not marked by big moves up for stocks. And, if the last few months are any indication, investors these days like to take profits after moves higher.

Still, stocks are set to move up when the opening bell rings. Futures for the large-cap

Nasdaq 100

and the

S&P 500 futures indicate the markets will open in positive territory.

European markets are closed today for

Boxing Day. And in Asia, the

Hang Seng

was also closed. In Japan, where economic troubles continue, the

Nikkei 225

gained 76.24, or 0.55%, to 14007.85. New data out of Japan shows the unemployment rate is rising, while consumer spending is slowing.

For more information about global markets, see

TheStreet.com's