The Dow Jones industrial average , however, slipped 21.66 points, or 0.2 percent, to 10,876.68. Good news came from Cisco, which got a shot in the arm after telecom company Global Crossing Ltd. said it will deploy two types of Cisco's newest Internet routers. In addition, a Morgan Stanley analyst said North American demand for networking products is stabilizing. Brocade Communications Systems Inc. also offered a piece of good news. 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 sceptical.
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. Oil shares like Exxon Mobil were limping as increases in fuel inventories doused concerns about a gasoline supply shortage this summer and sent oil prices lower. Some analysts said that the data indicate the U.S. economy is not out of the woods yet, supporting the case that the Federal Reserve will have to lower interest rates further to spur economic growth. 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. , the world's No. 2 fast-food company, said late Tuesday quarterly earnings fell, meeting estimates, as sales fell at its Taco Bell Mexican food chain.