TORONTO - Shares of JDS Uniphase Corp. fell in after-hours trading Tuesday - bucking a rally in the tech sector - after the Ottawa-based fibre-optic component maker reduced its profit forecast.

On the Nasdaq stock market, JDS Uniphase shares fell $1.06 to $26.94 US in after-hours trading after slipping 31 cents in regular trading during the day. On the Toronto Stock Exchange, they had fallen 14 cents to $43.61 Cdn.

Following the close of markets, JDS Uniphase revised its outlook downward for the third quarter ending March 31 due to continued uncertainty in carrier capital spending prospects and customer inventory adjustments, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

As well, JDS Uniphase said in the filing that it's less able to determine how strong sales will be in the next few quarters.

JDS Uniphase said it expects sales of about $925 million US for the third quarter and earnings per share of about 14 cents, down from earlier forecast sales of $1 billion US and profit of 17 cents a share.

Earnings and revenues for the fourth quarter will be about the same or slightly higher than the third quarter, the company said.

Meanwhile, despite being downgraded by analysts, tech leaders Nortel Networks and Cisco Systems rallied Tuesday as investors decided the stocks had hit near-bottom prices.

On Tuesday, Banc of America analyst Christopher Crespi added more gloom to the telecom equipment sector as he devalued Cisco and reduced his earnings estimates for Nortel due to waning confidence in the recovery of a number of key industry and macro-economic trends.

Crespi downgraded San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco to a buy from a strong buy and reduced its 2001 and 2002 earnings per share estimates to 60 cents and 70 cents US, down from 63 cents and 75 cents, respectively.

Crespi then reduced his earnings estimates for Nortel, based in Brampton, Ont., in 2001 to 45 cents US a share from 75 cents, and established an earnings a per share estimate of 58 cents a share for 2002.

But this second day of bad news - after UBS Warburg's downgrades Monday - seemed ot have little effect on the stocks, which gained ground.

Cisco rose 84 cents, or four per cent, to $24 US on the Nasdaq market. Nortel jumped $2.29 Cdn, or eight per cent, on the Toronto Stock Exchange to close at $29.50 Cdn and gained $1.35 to $18.95 US on the New York Stock Exchange.

Both stocks are far off their highs for the past year. Nortel is off its 52-week high of $89 US on the NYSE, and its $124.50 high on the TSE. Cisco's 52-week high on the Nasdaq is $82 US.

I think we were in an oversold position where a lot of bad news was already built into a lot of these names, said David Powers, a technology analyst with Edward Jones in St. Louis.

I think you've got some people who are bargain-hunting there, he said. A lot of people are looking to put some money to work in what is then a pretty beaten-down sector.