Stocks fell yesterday as a number of key companies issued earnings warnings in one of the lightest trading days on Wall Street this year. The Nasdaq composite index fell 44.30 points, or 2 per cent, to 2,170.80, while the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 54.91 points, or 0.50 per cent, to 10,922.09. The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 10.57 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 1,254.39.

"The market is a combination of hope and hype, so everybody was hopeful that the bad news was behind us," said Stanley Nabi, managing director at Credit Suisse Asset Management, which oversees about $110 billion.

Juniper Networks fell $2.69 to $35.33. in active trade. Wall Street houses Credit Suisse First Boston and Robertson Stephens cut earnings estimates for Juniper. The company warned late last week that second-quarter results would fall short of Wall Street expectations.

Also, software maker Peregrine Systems fell $3.30 to $25.51 after saying it agreed to acquire rival Remedy for $1.08 billion in stock and cash. Remedy surged $12.18 to $30.52, or nearly 67 per cent.