Stocks dropped in light summer trading today after Apple Computer said its mishandling of employee stock options would require significant revisions to its most recent quarterly results.

Stocks rebounded moderately in New York today as a stronger than expected retail sales report showed that higher oil prices are not scaring consumers off spending.

Stocks slumped on Wall Street today as lower-than-expected retail sales and a disappointing forecast from Intel offset upbeat earnings news from McDonald’s and other companies.

Investors left stocks in limbo today, making few commitments while they awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimony before Congress later this week.

Juniper Networks is to buy network security appliance specialist NetScreen Technologies in a deal worth $4bn (€3.15bn).

Juniper Networks and telecom equipment maker Lucent have announced a partnership.

The stock market stalled today, held back by a reported investigation of Boeing and profit-taking from Wall Street’s recent rally. Shares closed mixed in light trading.

Shares in technology companies were flat to slightly lower midday in lacklustre rangebound trade as the heavyweight chip sector came under pressure following Applied Materials job cuts announcement despite a buoyant networking sector ahead of Cisco's results tomorrow, dealers said.

A turbulent week on the London market looked set to end on a high point today as blue-chip shares raced ahead.

US investors have been selling stocks sharply lower while awaiting fourth-quarter results that begin in earnest this week.

Bargain hunting in technology lifted the US stock market moderately higher yesterday.

The FTSE 100 Index has surged ahead thanks to a strong performance from oil stocks.

The London market hovered around its opening level today as dealers put their feet up ahead of the Christmas holidays.

An earnings and revenue warning from Juniper Networks helped send US technology stocks sharply lower today, as Wall Street worried that the recent rally might have been premature.

Blue chips ended the day near session lows, as a profits warning from US networking firm Juniper Networks and the state of emergency in Argentina impacted sentiment on both sides of the Atlantic, dealers said.

Share prices closed sharply higher, with the DJIA ending above 10,000 points and the Nasdaq composite finishing above 2,000 for the first time in months, after the NAPM's non-manufacturing index for the services industry indicated that the sector expanded last month, countering the overall recessionary trend, dealers said.

Technology buying boosted the overall US stock market as investor confidence in the sector seemed to be growing.