From Smart Money. By David Barrett. This marked the index's highest level since March 7 and represents a 35.5 percent surge since it hit a new two-year low on April 4. In addition, a Morgan Stanley analyst said North American demand for networking products is stabilizing. Its chief executive officer, Greg Reyes, said the data storage company was poised to meet or exceed Wall Street's profit expectations as customers rekindle technology projects.
Analysts are skeptical.
High-tech earnings for all of 2001 are expected to fall 36.5 percent after gaining 17.2 percent in 2000, according to First Call. The Fed, which has cut rates by a total of 2 percentage points so far this year, next meets on May 15 to make its decision on monetary policy. Tricon Global Restaurants Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.