Liste Newsletter

Index Performances
EPITEX, EPITA’S INDEX, Dec. 10, 2004: 81.81 (EPITEX set at 100 on Aug. 31, 2001)

News

MARKET FOCUS

U.S. stocks ended marginally lower as investors worried about possible new U.S. interest rate hikes following an unexpected spike in wholesale inflation that, however, was mostly due to lofty oil prices.

The PPI index for wholesale inflation shot up 0.5 percent in November, with analysts had been expecting a mere 0.1 percent increase. But excluding volatile food and oil prices, core PPI inflation was up only 0.2 percent, in line with forecasts.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index for early December rose to 95.7 from 92.8 in November. Also contributing to a somewhat firm tone in the market was the U.S. dollar, which managed to hold for a third straight session above its record low set against the euro at $1.3469 on Tuesday.

OUTLOOK

Enterprise software leader Oracle is due to release its earnings late on Monday, with analysts expecting 13-cent profits, up from 12-cent profits a year earlier. Revenues are expected to climb to $2.64 billion.

But the focus will be on Oracle’s comments regarding its attempted takeover of rival PeopleSoft.

THE NUMBERS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 10,543. The Nasdaq composite index was flat at 2,128 while the Nasdaq-100 index of large capitalization tech and biotech stocks ended off 0.2 percent at 1,605.

Profile

Juniper Networks has been selected to supply routing platforms for the I2Bask project, funded by the Basque Government, which aims to create a private regional research and education network for the exchange of critical data between universities and R&D centers in the Basque region of Spain.

Juniper Networks worked closely with local integration partner SATEC to win the contract from the Basque region’s university UPV/EHU, which will manage the regional network, and successfully implement the routing solution. The network is dedicated exclusively to critical R&D data and aims to be a valuable resource for the participants.

The I2Bask network links numerous universities in the region, enabling the exchange of critical research data reliably and securely at speeds of up to 1 gigabit-per-second. The I2Bask network will also interface with Spain’s RedIRIS national education network, and GEANT, the pan-European education network, enabling data to be exchanged efficiently with multiple research and education establishments across a huge geography.

I2Bask is also being developed to include regional technology research centres and research & development divisions of private enterprises.

To create I2Bask’s network, Juniper Networks has supplied M40e core routing platforms for the network’s backbone, and M10i routing platforms for node satellites situated at various technology parks within the network.

In a highly competitive bid process, Juniper Networks was ultimately chosen for its ability to provide best-in-class core routing technology that is capable of optimizing the fiber optic infrastructure being deployed by the participating universities.

Juniper Networks transforms the business of networking by creating competitive advantage for our customers with superior networking and security solutions. Its portfolio of networking and security solutions supports the complex scale, security and performance requirements of the world's most demanding mission critical networks.