Warnings, Downgrades Pressure Techs

Earnings warnings and analyst downgrades dragged on tech stocks Tuesday, while the worsening Middle East conflict pressured blue chips for a second straight day.

The ISDEX dropped 8, or 5 percent, to 155 and the Nasdaq slumped 58, or 3 percent to 1804. The Dow lost 48, or a
half a percentage, to 1137. And the broader S&P 500 shed 10 or 1 percent, to 1137.

Software companies were hit hard. Shares of PeopleSoft plummeted 12.13, or 32 percent, to 25.24 in a sell-off after the human
resources software maker said it would miss first-quarter forecasts.

E Piphany and BroadVision , also revealed that their numbers would disappoint. Additionally,
BroadVision restated financial results for its third quarter and revised results for the fourth quarter and fiscal 2001.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs frowned on several tech stalwarts, including EMC , IBM , Sun Microsystems
and Siebel Systems .

The brokerage firm cut their estimates because large companies continue to be stingy about IT spending even as the economy begins to right itself.

Terra Lycos lost 0.34, or 4 percent, to close at 7.46, on news that German media conglomerate Bertelsmann wants to renegotiate a deal to buy $675 million in advertising. The move could
spoil the portal and Internet service provider’s hopes for a pro forma breakeven in 2002.

Later this week, investors are looking for news out of a storage conference.

Among the few sectors to gain Tuesday was oil, owing to the jitters surrounding deteriorating relations between Israelis and Palestinians.