(IBM) International Business Machines Corp said on Wednesday it is more confident about its U.S. business so far this year than in the fourth quarter, countering fears over slowing corporate spending.
"We're at the end of February, so we still have a lot to do in the quarter, but at this point I feel better about our U.S. business in the first quarter than I did in the fourth," Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge said in a statement on IBM's Web site.
It also said U.S. financial services clients, thought to be cutting back because of the mortgage and credit crisis, signed 78 percent more short-term services contracts in the fourth quarter.
