By James Langton

(March 1 – 09:00 ET) – Stocks are poised to slide on the open this morning. Profit warnings in the tech sector are to blame again. Today’s culprits are 3Com Corp. and Gateway.

In the United States, initial jobless claims rose 39,000 to 372,000 last week. One ray of good news, personal spending was reported up 0.7% in January, the biggest jump in four months. The National Association of Purchasing Managers report due out later is the one report traders are anxious to see. There’s no economic news in Canada today.

In Europe, the European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged this morning. Stocks are sliding on that news and tech profit worries. Losers include Ericsson AB, Marconi plc and Alcatel SA. In London, the FTSE is down 19 points to 5,899. In Paris, the CAC 40 is off 73 points to 5,294. The German DAX dropped 78 points to 6,130.

Stocks also plunged overnight in Asia on tech weakness, too. The Japanese Nikkei dropped 202 points to close at 12,682. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng surrendered 427 points to 14,361.

In business news, Certicom reported a net loss of $12 million, or 46¢ a share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2001, compared to an 18¢ a share loss in the same period a year ago.

ATI Technologies Inc. has issued a profit warning of its own, saying that it expects revenues for its second fiscal quarter ending February 28, to be about US$230 million. The revised revenue estimate is largely a result of weaker personal computer sales worldwide. ATI expects to report an adjusted net loss of between 11¢ a share and 13¢ a share. It expects modest revenue growth in the third quarter.

Noranda Inc. has appointed David Kerr to the chairman and CEO roles, and Derek Pannell to president and COO, effective September 1. Kerr, who is currently president and CEO, will be replacing Robert Harding as Chairman. Harding will remain on Noranda’s board but will be focusing on his other responsibilities within the Brascan group.

Biomira Inc. reported a consolidated net loss from operations of $44.9 million or 93¢ a share for fiscal 2000, compared to 71¢ a share, for the same period in 1999.