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To: fivebagger who wrote (91262)	8/5/2003 6:19:48 AM
From: 2MAR$	Respond to of 208838

Wall St seen flat before ISM data, Cisco results Tuesday August 5, 6:05 am ET LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street was poised for a cautious start on Tuesday as investors await earnings from industry leader Cisco Systems (NasdaqNM:CSCO - News), although economic data on the services sector is likely to dictate the early mood. ADVERTISEMENT General Electric (NYSE:GE - News) is also likely to nab some of the spotlight after Dutch insurer Aegon (Amsterdam:AEGN.AS - News) said it will sell most of the commercial lending business of its Transamerica Finance Corp to GE Commercial Finance for $5.4 billion. By 0950 GMT U.S. equity index futures signalled a flat to slightly higher start to New York trading. "The focus today will be the sevice sector confidence numbers in the U.S. and Cisco's results released after hours," said Rupert Thompson, global strategist at ETrade Securities. Investors will focus on any outlook given by Cisco, the world's largest maker of equipment that directs Internet traffic. Among other corporates set to release their scorecards are the world's largest razor maker Gillette Co (NYSE:G - News) and U.S. life insurer Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - News). "The earnings season in the U.S. is drawing to a close. The S&P 500 looks set to record a nine to 10 percent gain in earnings in the second quarter after a 13 percent gain in the first quarter", Thompson said. In an early earnings report, Costco Wholesale Corp. (NasdaqNM:COST - News) lowered its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year, as rising employee healthcare costs and lower-than-expected margins hurt its results. Costco, the sixth biggest U.S. retailer, said on Tuesday that its July sales at stores open at least a year rose eight percent. Net sales rose 12 percent from a year earlier to $3.34 billion. Investors will also play close attention to U.S. non-manufacturing ISM numbers for July, for further indications on the health of the world's largest economy. Non-manufacturing ISM numbers for July out at 1400 GMT, are seen down to 58 from 60.6 in June. "Service sector confidence bounced sharply in the U.S. in May and June and the question is whether these gains are held onto," Thompson said. Among other standouts will be shares in U.S. auto parts maker Dana Corp. (NYSE:DCN - News) after it escalated its fight against rival ArvinMeritor Inc.'s $2.2 billion hostile takeover bid, saying it will sue its rival's financial adviser UBS for misappropriating confidential information. Drugmakers may also feature after Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqNM:ALXN - News) said its experimental heart disease drug failed to pass a clinical trial, while Cephalon Inc. (NasdaqNM:CEPH - News) posted a 26 percent rise in profits.