The Night Watch: After a Wild Week, After-Hours Gang Heads Home Early

(Updated from 6:27 p.m. EDT)

When news begins to taper, trading activity does too. With few companies making headlines tonight, activity on the after-hours market is thin.

Maybe, investors are just ready for a break. After all, this week has been rocky. Amid Mideast violence, surging oil prices, and profit warnings, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 379.21 points and the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 93.81 points yesterday. Today, the market fought back. The Dow climbed 158 points and Nasdaq boosted 242 points.

Perhaps, the worst is over. "We just witnessed the worst confession season all year," said Joseph Kalinowski, market strategist at I/B/E/S. "But, the dirty laundry is out already and technology stocks are ready for a rebound."

The most active stocks tonight on Island ECN are tech issues Microsoft (MSFT Quote), Intel (INTC Quote), and Cisco (CSCO Quote).

In twilight action, Microsoft, which posts earnings on Wednesday, edged up 50 cents, or 0.93%, to $54.25 on Island and lifted 25 cents, or 0.5%, to $54 on Instinet. The software firm closed the regular session down 63 cents, or 1.15%, to $53.75.

On the heels of a chipmaker rally today, Intel was ahead 14 cents, or 0.33%, to $40.51 on Island and up 19 cents, or 0.5%, to $40.56 on Instinet. The semiconductor giant gained $3.75, or 8.75%, to $40.38 in the regular session. Cisco shed 20 cents, or 0.36%, to $55.86 on Island and lowered 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $55.81 on Instinet. Today, the stock jumped $6.25, or 12.55%, to $56.06.

Shares of DoubleClick (DCLK Quote) gained in evening activity. The online advertiser rose 4 cents, or 0.34%, to $12.48 on Island but lifted 5 cents or 0.4%, to $12.48 on Instinet. Today, DoubleClick plummeted $5.69, or 31.38%, to $12.44.

Last night, DoubleClick posted a 3-cent profit, in line with analysts' estimates and above the year-ago 3-cent loss. But the online advertising firm said that it was disappointed with the performance of its Abacus Direct data unit and was planning to take steps to restructure operations within the division.

Juniper Networks (JNPR Quote), which popped $28.88, or 14.46%, to $228.50, gained $1.94, or 0.85%, to $230.94 on Island. Yesterday evening, Juniper announced third-quarter earnings of 17 cents a share, surpassing the 9-cent Wall Street target and the year-ago break-even result.

10 most active stocks on Instinet (6:30 p.m. EDT)
Company	Price	Change	Session Volume
Microsoft (MSFT Quote)	54	+0.25	382,865
Dell(DELL Quote)	26.984375	-0.32815	323,105
Cisco(CSCO Quote)	55.8125	-0.25	294,799
Intel (INTC Quote)	40.5625	+0.1875	275,716
Oracle(ORCL Quote)	35.625	--	196,966
Apple(AAPL Quote)	21.875	-0.1875	172,800
JDS Uniphase (JDSU Quote)	93.984	-0.390625	160,115
Global Crossing (GBLX Quote)	25.609	-0.140625	138,711
Sun Microsystems (SUNW Quote)	110.75	-0.25	128,417
WorldCom (WCOM Quote)	24.875	+0.125	119,151

This information is provided by Instinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters (RTRSY Quote). For further information, please contact Instinet at www.instinet.com.

10 most active stocks on Island ECN (7 p.m. EDT)
Company	Price	Change	Session Volume
Microsoft (MSFT Quote)	54.25	+0.5	132,852
Intel(INTC Quote)	40.51	+0.135	78,689
Cisco(CSCO Quote)	55.86	-0.2025	62,196
DoubleClick (DCLK Quote)	12.48	+0.0425	60,430
Yahoo! (YHOO Quote)	59.625	-0.375	55,013
Dell(DELL Quote)	27.125	-0.1875	42,635
Genuity (GENU Quote)	6.1875	+1.0625	39,664
Atmel (ATML Quote)	13.4375	+0.3125	39,099
BroadVision (BVSN Quote)	22	--	38,507
CMGI (CMGI Quote)	18.5625	-0.125	38,136

Island ECN, owned by Datek Online, offers trading, mainly in Nasdaq-listed stocks, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. EDT.

Confused? TheStreet.com explains how the rules change when the sun goes down in Investing Basics: Night Owl, a section devoted to after-hours trading.