Housing Data Keep Stocks Flat

Stocks stayed flat Wednesday afternoon following a Commerce Department report of unexpected drops in home construction and building permits in October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 43 points to 10396. The Nasdaq dropped 17 to 2187 and the S&P 500 slipped 6 to 1096.

Separately, the Labor Department reported U.S. consumer prices continued to rise at a moderate pace in October that came in close to expectations and indicated a slow economic recovery is keeping inflation contained.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 15 points recently after trading up about 9 points prior to the data. Nasdaq Composite futures were down 3 points and Standard & Poor's 500 futures were down 1 point. Prior to the reports, Nasdaq futures had been down 1 point and S&P 500 futures were up 1 point.

The slight gains prior to the reports had come as commodities including crude-oil and metals futures climbed, while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen. Small gains in commodities had helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average finish at a fresh 13-month high Tuesday.

Wednesday's data showed housing starts decreased 10.6% to a seasonally adjusted 529,000 annual rate compared to the prior month. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 1.7% increase. The 10.6% fall carried construction to the lowest point in six months.

Building permits in October fell 4.0% to a 552,000 annual rate. Economists had expected permits to rise by 0.9% to a rate of 580,000. Building permits are a sign of future construction.

The seasonally-adjusted consumer price index rose 0.3% in October, compared with a monthly 0.2% increase in September. The core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, advanced by 0.2% in October, the same increase seen the previous month. The figures were a tad higher than forecast by Wall Street economists, which had projected a 0.2% rise in the headline CPI and a 0.1% increase in core inflation.

The inflation data should give the U.S. Federal Reserve continued ammunition in trying to support the economic recovery by keeping interest rates at a record low close to zero.

As of 3:58 p.m., crude oil futures traded on the Nymex were up 52 cents to $79.66 a barrel.

Corporate news

Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this report.