US stock indexes flat to falling

U.S. stock indexes were flat to lower on Wall Street Wednesday as housing starts for January came in lower than expected. The U.S. Commerce Department said housing starts reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 890,000 in January, down from 973,000 in December and lower than the consensus prediction of 925,000. In late morning trading, the Dow Jones industrial average gave up 21.73 points or 0.15 percent, and was 14,013.94. The Standard and Poor's 500 lost 6.59 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,524.35 points. The Nasdaq composite shed 16.73 points, or 0.52 percent, to 3,196.05 points. The 10-year U.S. treasury rose 3/32 to yield 2.021 percent. Against the dollar the euro fell to $1.3346 from Tuesday's $1.3389. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at 93.58 yen from 93.57 yen. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 closed at 11,468.28 points, adding 95.94 points or 0.84 percent. In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.15 percent, 9.64 points, to 6,388.71.