The technology sector was in focus on Monday, as shares of Apple declined and Dell's stock surged.
The broader U.S. market was little changed as investors gear up for a slew of corporate earnings coming this week. S&P 500 lost 1 point. Nasdaq finished down just 0.3%. Earlier, it had fallen nearly 0.7%. Dow Jones finished up 0.1%.
S&P 500 companies are expected to report overall earnings growth of 2.4% for the last three months of 2012, according to FactSet Research, and financial companies are expected to lead the way with earnings growth of more than 15%. In fact, excluding the financial sector, earnings growth for S&P 500 companies is expected to be just 0.2%.
European markets stocks finished mixed, with the FTSE 100 ending in the red and the Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rising 0.2%.
The Indian ADRs ended on a mix note. Infosys & Tata Motors ended lower by 0.6% & 1.6% respectively. However, HDFC & ICICI Bank ended higher by 3.2% & 1.2% respectively. Tata Communications ended higher by 2.2%, while Wipro & Dr. Reddy's gained 0.8% & 0.5% respectively.