Juniper Will Replace Albertsons in S&P; 500

Juniper Networks Inc., the Sunnyvale, Calif., company that makes equipment that directs Internet traffic, will replace Albertsons Inc. in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index.

Managers of funds that mimic the S&P; 500 are now likely to purchase Juniper’s shares. S&P; announced the switch after the close of regular trading. Juniper shares gained 74 cents to $15.29 during the regular session and climbed to $16.20 after hours.

Supermarket chain Albertsons is being dropped because its sale is pending to a group led by Supervalu Inc. The change will take effect on a date to be announced later.

The addition of Juniper underscores the growth in communications equipment as cable and phone companies boost spending to upgrade their networks. Juniper is second to Cisco Systems Inc. in the market for routers used by carriers to deliver bundled voice, video and data services.