The markets retreated to close lower with the Dow slipping 8 points to 19,843 as November housing starts fell more than expected. Nasdaq lost 19 points to 5,437.

On the upside

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Stone Energy's (NYSE: SGY) Probability of Default Rating from CA-PD to D-PD in response the oil producer's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing but the stock price soared.

Urstadt Biddle Properties (NYSE: UBP) increased its quarterly dividend by $0.02 to $0.235 per share of common stock.

Positive data from a Phase 2 clinical trial of Aptevo Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: APVO) otlertuzumab was published in the British Journal of Haematology.

On the downside

xG Technology (Nasdaq: XGTI) completed its 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

Investors locked in profits on Diana Containerships (Nasdaq: DCIX).

Profit taking weighed down shares of Sino-Global Shipping America (Nasdaq: SINO).

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 5 to 4 on the NYSE while decliners edged out advancers by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index lost 3 points to 2,258. Bitcoin rose $3 to $776.