By James Langton

(February 15 – 09:00 ET) – Markets are pointing to an up open on some renewed strength in tech stocks this morning.

Ciena Corp. beat the Street with its first-quarter profit, and the firm boosted its future forecasts. That has the techs looking to rally.

On the economic front there’s not much news in the United States, but in Canada the Consumer Price Index was reported at a 3.0% annual rate in January, lower than the 3.2% increases in November and December. While energy is responsible for much of the gain, the core rate rose 2.3%, slightly higher than expected.

Also, sales of new motor vehicles rose 2.5% in December compared with November, pushing auto sales to an all-time high in 2000.

The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at its meeting today.

The good news in Ciena generally has stocks up across Europe. Marconi plc, Alcatel SA and Ericsson AB are leading the way higher. In London, the FTSE is flat at 6,175. In Paris, the CAC 40 is up 34 points to 5,679. The German DAX has gained 63 points to 6.543.

On the M&A front, the Oppenheimer family is buying De Beers in a transaction valued at US$17.6 billion.

On the earnings front, Sun Life Financial Services of Canada Inc. reported shareholder net income of $211 million for the quarter ending December 31, up 37% over 1999. For fiscal 2000, net income came in at a record $792 million, up 22%.

Sun Life said it will also eliminate 1,700 jobs in its U.K. unit and warned that earnings may fall short of analyst estimates in the coming year.

TD Bank Financial Group today announced record results for the first quarter of fiscal 2001, reporting net income on an operating cash basis of $569 million or 88¢ a share, up from 72¢ a share last year.

Overnight in Asia stocks were mixed. The Japanese Nikkei closed up 43 points to 13,327. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 104 points to 15,756.

Plaintree Systems is recording a net loss for the quarter of 1¢ a share. For the first nine months of fiscal 2001, Plaintree’s net loss was 2¢ a share.

Precision Drilling Corporation reports their audited financial results for the year ended December 31 showed net earnings per share increasing 236% to $2.55 from 76¢.