The US markets ended mixed on Monday, with the Dow industrials falling short of a close above 13,000, despite pending home sales index surging more than expected and offering another evidence of slow and steady economic recovery. The National Association of Realtors stated that pending home sales climbed 2% in January to the highest level since April 2010. Compared to January 2011, pending home sales were up 8%. The pending-home-sales index rose to 97.0 from a downwardly revised 95.1 reading in December. In Europe, German lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a second bailout package for Greece, with Chancellor Angela Merkel urging them to support the deal while rejecting calls by international leaders to boost the size of the euro area’s debt firewall. The Bundestag voted 496 to 90 to approve the 130 billion euro ($174 billion) rescue package. That gives Merkel permission to sign off on the measures when she attends a summit meeting of European Union leaders on Thursday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 1.44 points, or 0.01 percent, at 12,981.50. The S&P 500 gained 1.85 points, or 0.14 percent, at 1,367.59, while the Nasdaq was up by 2.41 points, or 0.08 percent, at 2,966.16.
Indian ADRs closed in red on Monday, ICICI Bank was down 1.54%, HDFC Bank was down 1.19%, Infosys Technologies was down 0.91%, Tata Motors was down 0.78% and Tata Communications was down 0.29%.