WALL Street stocks began rebounding as bargain hunters picked through last week's heavy decliners, particularly in the technology sector. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had fallen 210 points during the preceding two sessions, rose 74.41 points to close at 7,921.44.

The Nasdaq composite index, which tumbled 4% last week amid a series of disappointing earnings reports from leading technology companies, posted the most sizeable gains.

AT and T helped lead the Dow's advance after reporting better-than-expected profits for the third quarter and announcing that C. Michael Armstrong, the leader of Hughes Electronics, will take over as chief executive of the troubled telecom giant in November.

Microsoft retreated in the afternoon amid news of the software giant's latest spat with federal anti-trust regulators.