OREANDA-NEWS. January 23, 2012. The US indices were almost flat on Friday with stocks returns dispersed widely over the market. S&P 500 Index added 0.07% while Russell was up by 0.29% with Financials and Utilities as the leaders, and Consumer Discretionary as the laggards. MSFT aтв IBM led the Technology sector slightly up on good financial results.

Existing home sales rose 5.0% in December, confirming the improving situation in the real estate market.

Asian indices are mostly in the green zone on Monday. Hang Seng added 0.84%. Japanese Nikkei was up by 0.09%. S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.34%. Shanghai exchanges are closed for the Lunar New Year celebration.

No significant reports are expected to be released in EU and US today.

Earnings season will go on with Halliburton, Western Digital, Texas Instruments reports in focus.