By James Langton

(February 5 – 09:00 ET) – It looks like markets will spend another day living in a house divided house. Tech stocks are poised to open lower, although old economy futures are looking up a bit. Profit worries for the techs appear to be promoting some sector rotation again today.

There are no economic releases on the horizon today either, so profits and profit sentiment look likely to carry the action.

Stocks are mixed in Europe, with the techs weighing on the trade. In London, the FTSE is up 12 ticks to 6,269. In Paris, the CAC 40 has dropped 28 points to 5,798. The German DAX is off 25 points to 6,613.

In M&A news, Phillips Petroleum is buying Tosco for about US$7 billion.

Bertelsmann AG is buying broadcaster RTL Group for 25% of its own shares and may look at an initial public offering.

Patterson Energy Inc. is buying UTI Energy Corp. for US$1.34 billion in stock.

In Asia, stocks slipped on the heels of the drop in tech stocks in the United States. The Japanese Nikkei is down 318 points to 13,386. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 240 points to 15,831.