The Nasdaq moved notably lower, reflecting weakness in the technology sector, with semiconductor stocks seeing significant weakness because of a profit warning from Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (MRVL: chart). The chip maker opened 15% down after saying that Q3 revenue will fall about 10% from Q2 levels. Marvell also said it would have to restate past results because of stock-option accounting errors. Energy stocks also came under pressure in early trading, as the price of oil further declined. At the same time, the lower oil price contributed to some strength in the airline sector. ExpressJet (XJT: chart) rose nearly 2% after the airline reported a 17.3% increase in passenger traffic in September.

Among other Tuesday''s movers, Quest Diagnostics Inc. (DGX: chart), provider of diagnostic testing services, dropped 11.8% after losing a nationwide contract with health insurer UnitedHealthcare Inc. Pier 1 Imports Inc. (PIR: chart) said it discontinued its dividend as it works to boost liquidity. The stock was down 8.3%.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 12.25, or 0.10%, at 11,658.10. The Standard & Poor''s 500 index was down 4.15, or 0.31%, at 1,327.17, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 13.22, or 0.59%, to 2,224.38. Bonds fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.74% from 4.61% late Monday.


09:00AM Stock futures declined ahead of auto sales release.
Stock futures slightly declined on concerns about economic slowdown and expectations of weaker auto sales. The Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler is expected to have the worst performance. Sales of General Motors and Ford Motor Co. are seen roughly flat in comparison with last year.

Elsewhere, Marvell Technology (MRVL: chart) tumbled 17% in pre-open trading after saying that Q3 revenue will fall about 10% from Q2 levels. Marvell also said it would have to restate past results because of stock-option accounting errors. Shares of rival company Broadcom (BRCM: chart) dropped 3.3%. Sepracor (SEPR: chart), drug research and development company, slipped 3.2% after Goldman Sachs downgraded its stock to neutral from buy, and cut its 12-month price target to $55 from $63. Skyworks Solutions (SWKS: chart) soared 38% after saying that it was planning to cut its workforce by 10% as part of a plan to save $70 million in annual costs.

There are no important economic reports due out on Tuesday. Dow Jones futures were recently down 10 points, S&P 500 futures declined 1.7 points and Nasdaq futures eased 3.5 points.


8:30AM U.S. corporate layoffs surged by 54%.
U.S. corporate layoff announcements jumped 54% to 100,315 in September, marking the highest rise since January, and the second straight month of considerable increase. In July, job cuts totaled just 37,178. September''s total job cuts were 40% higher than the 71,836 layoffs recorded in September 2005. Job-reduction announcements rose 12% in Q3, reaching 202,771 from Q2’s 180,580. For the year to date, layoffs are down 18% to 739,229 from the first nine months of 2005.


The chief executive of the outplacement firm said that the job reductions are closely related to the slowdown in the U.S. economy. Cuts related to the housing slowdown are surfacing at companies such as Pulte Homes (PHM: chart) and home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD: chart). In addition, consumer-product companies announced 9,031 cuts in September.

In September, the auto industry announced plans to slash 33,745 jobs, the biggest number since January''s 36,299. So far in 2006, 111,642 job cuts have been announced by automakers and auto-parts manufacturers. The automotive cuts were dominated by suppliers, affected by lower production levels at Ford (F: chart), General Motors Corp. (GM: chart) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX: chart).

The computer industry planned to cut 10,600, mostly at Intel (INTC: chart). The telecommunications industry announced job reductions of 10,059.


7:30AM A sharp drop in crude-oil prices brought stocks lower in Asia.
Asian markets finished lower on Tuesday. The Nikkei 225 Average in Japan finished the day 0.08% lower at 16242.09. Sony shed 2.7%, having sunk 5.3% since Thursday on a lot of unwelcome news involving faulty laptop batteries as well as reservations about its flagship games console. Oil stocks also dipped after oil futures slid Monday on U.S. markets. Oil explorer Inpex Holdings dropped 3.9%.

Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.36% to close at 17606.53. Recently listed China Merchants Bank surged 6.7%, and China Mobile advanced 1.6%. The advances in the two Chinese firms came after the tightly-controlled yuan has moved up at an unprecedented pace in the past two weeks.

Taipei shed 0.06% to 6956.88 and S&P/ASX 200 in Australia closed 0.11% higher at 5184.30. In Australia, a favorable cocktail of domestic economic data spurred buying of stocks, resulting in the seventh consecutive daily rise by the market. Lower oil prices weighed down energy stocks, as Woodside Petroleum fell 2.9%, but helped airlines gained, as Qantas gained 1.5%.


6:30AM Tech and enegry stocks weigh Europe down on Tuesday.
European markets were lower by mid morning on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 in London lost 0.5% to 5,927.5, while Frankfurt Xetra Dax fell 0.7% to 5,957.65 and in Paris, the CAC 40 shed 0.7% to 5,206.45.

Decliners