Mumbai, Dec. 30 -- The Dow fell 249.04 points (0.5%) to 48,461.93. the Nasdaq slid 118.75 points (0.5%) to 23,474.35 and the S&P 500 declined 24.20 points (0.4%) to 6,905.74.

Wall Street's pullback looked like classic year-end profit taking after a strong run. The Dow and S&P 500 hit record closes midweek on tech strength before edging lower, while all major averages still logged solid Christmas-week gains. Big-name tech like Nvidia and Oracle slid, and trading was quieter as many desks emptied ahead of New Year's.

On the data front, U.S. housing delivered a surprise boost. Pending home sales jumped 3.3% in November to 79.2, far above expectations and following an upwardly revised October gain. Economists had penciled in just a modest i...