Stocks in New York Off to a Rocky Start

Elsewhere, government-controlled mortgage firm Fannie Mae (FNM Quote) received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that it faces delisting if it can't keep its share price above $1.

In earnings news, bulk retailer BJ's Wholesale (BJ Quote) reported rising third-quarter profit that was aided by gasoline sales.

As to analyst actions, Goldman Sachs put BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM Quote) on its conviction buy list.

On the economic-data front, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that its consumer price index fell 1% for October thanks in part to falling energy prices. The CPI's decline was its largest on record. Economists were expecting a decline of 0.8%. The core rate dropped 0.1%, following a 0.1% uptick in September.

Separately, the Census Bureau said that housing starts declined 4.5% to an annual rate of 791,000 for October, the largest one-month decline since the government began tracking the figures.

Minutes from the Oct. 29 meeting of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee are due out later today.

In the realm of commodities, crude oil was adding 3 cents to $54.42 a barrel. Gold was adding $8.70 to $741.40 an ounce.

Longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities were rising in price. The 10-year note was up 14/32 to yield 3.47%, and the 30-year was gaining 28/32, yielding 4.06%. The dollar was climbing vs. the yen but weakening against the euro and pound.

Overseas, the FTSE in London and the DAX in Frankfurt were both trading lower. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed with losses.