(Refile to fix typo in headline)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Dec 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged lower on Friday as
weaker-than-expected data on new home sales reinforced worries about
the housing and mortgage markets.
Shares of home builders were down, and the Dow Jones home
construction index <.DJUSHB> fell 2.7 percent. An S&P index index of
financial stocks <.GSPF> was down 0.7 percent.
Stocks started the day in positive territory, but quickly cut
gains and eventually turned negative after a government report showed
U.S. new home sales fell much more than expected in November, to the
slowest sales pace in 12 years.
"This points to the fact that the housing market is in a
difficult situation. It's been a pretty consistent story throughout
the fourth quarter," said Owen Fitzpatrick, head of the U.S. equity
group at Deutsche Bank Private Wealth Management in New York,
Shares of MBIA Inc <MBI.N> and other bond insurers fell on news
that billionaire investor Warren Buffett is starting up a rival bond
insurer that aims to make it cheaper for cities and states to
borrow.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was down 51.38 points, or
0.39 percent, at 13,308.15. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 3.95 points, or 0.27 percent, at 1,472.42. The Nasdaq
Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 10.24 points, or 0.38 percent, at
2,666.55.
Trading volume remained well below normal levels, however,
because of the holidays.
Buffett's move comes as the credit ratings of major U.S. bond
insurers, including MBIA and a unit of Ambac Financial <ABK.N>, look
shaky. The start-up insurer, Hathaway Assurance Corp, part of
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, was set to begin operating on
Friday in New York state.
Shares of MBIA plummeted 15.6 percent to $18.79.
(Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke;
Editing by Jan Paschal )
(([email protected]; +1 646 223 6393; Reuters
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