US benchmark equity indexes ended lower Monday after the National Association of Realtors reported pending home sales increased by 2.2% in November, higher than a 1.8% gain in October, and higher than the 0.8% estimate by a Bloomberg survey. The monthly sale index stood at 79 up 6.9% from a year ago.

* The Institute for Supply Management's Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index reading contracted to 36.9 in December, falling below a Bloomberg survey expectation of 42.7 and November's reading of 40.2.

* US stocks are positioned to close 2024 with "strongly positive gains" as investor optimism was driven by the Fed rate cuts, presidential elections and higher-than-expected stock earnings, Wells Fargo Investment Institute said in a report published Monday. "Volatility in December tempered investor enthusiasm but, as of Dec. 19, has not been enough to derail sizable stock gains for the year," according to the report.

* February West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher $0.53 to settle at $71.13 per barrel, while February Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.22 to $74.39.

* MicroCloud Hologram (HOLO) was up 177% after the holographic technology services company said it has developed a fast adiabatic driving protocol for "coherent control of two heavy hole spin qubits in a double quantum dot system."

* Snow Lake Resources (LITM) shares were down 40% after the company priced its best-efforts stock offering of 18.75 million shares at $0.80 per share, a 50% discount to their closing price Friday.