TECH STOCKS: Watching And Waiting

Stocks rose Tuesday on light trading volume as investors awaited Congressional testimony from Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan on the economy's health.

Greenspan will address the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday and the Senate Banking Committee Thursday on the nation's economy, and investors expect a positive assessment. But they'll also be watching for any sign that economic growth could warrant a rise in interest rates, which could slow consumer spending and corporate profits. Greenspan is expected to reiterate that the Fed can exercise patience in raising interest rates. That would be good news on Wall Street, where last month's Fed statement indicating rates would eventually rise set off a wave of selling.

The InformationWeek 100 rose 2.92, or 0.9%, to 337.18, the biggest percentage gain among the major indexes. The Dow Jones industrials rose 34.82, or 0.3%, to 10,613.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 5.73, or 0.5%, to 1,145.54, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 14.76, or 0.7%, to 2,075.33. The Nasdaq 100 tracking stock rose 6 cents to $37.18 as just over 65 million shares changed hands.

Tech stocks got a boost as shares of Juniper Networks bounced back one day after the maker of networking gear offered about $4 billion to buy data security company Netscreen Technologies Inc.