S&P 500 closes higher on housing sales data

S&P 500 index opened down on Monday amid persisting worries over Euro Zone as G-20 rejected calls to support region's firewall. However the index pared the losses and finished 0.14% or 1.85 points higher at 1,367.59 on a drop in crude prices and better than expected pending house sales data. Micron Technology rallied 7.7% after its Japanese rival Elpida applied for bankruptcy protection. Sprint Nextel gained 3.2% on news its board rejected a purchase of MetroPCS Communications. Shares on Netflix lost 2.2% after a downgrade made by Raymond Jame's analyst.