End-of-quarter selling and growing uneasiness about the US economy sent stocks sliding on Wall Street today, with Caterpillar and other industrials depressing blue chips and technology issues dragging the Nasdaq composite index to a five-month low.

Wall Street managed a moderate gain today in a volatile session that saw investors alternating between worries about interest rates and delight in a new wave of merger deals.

Falling oil prices and a broker upgrade of the semiconductor sector pushed stocks higher today, enticing buyers back into the market after the previous session’s losses.

A better-than-expected reading of the United States’ gross domestic product sent stocks substantially higher for the third straight session today, with the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index each posting its best close of the year.

US-based telecoms group Verizon Communications today said it was buying MCI, the former collapsed WorldCom group, for $5.3bn (€4bn).

The Dow Jones industrial average moved into positive territory for the year today as investors piled back into the market.

US investors pushed stocks lower today, ending Wall Street’s three-day string of gains.

Wall Street bounded higher for the second straight day today as investors revelled in sharply falling oil prices and the pro-business agenda of the second Bush administration.

Japan Telecom Co has tied up with Equant, a major global data-communications firm affiliated with France Telecom, in a drive to provide communications services to globally active Japanese companies using Equant's communications network covering 220 countries and regions, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing sources close to the deal.

EXECUTIVES at Qwest Communications International made about $500 million selling company stock from 1999 to 2001, as the company was releasing results it now says were exaggerated and based on improper accounting, The New York Times said.

Qwest Communications International Inc is considering restating its 2001 results, erasing more than $1bn (€1bn) in revenue in a bid to restore the company's damaged credibility.

Wall Street close mixed tonight amid concern about weak sales predictions and accounting investigations in the telecommunications and technology sectors.

Wall Street found some stability today, leaving stocks barely changed following the sell-off last week that sent the major indexes to some of their lowest levels of the year.