U.S. stock indexes were mixed Wednesday morning as investors appeared unimpressed by two positive housing reports.
The U.S. Commerce Department said 750,000 private housing construction projects were started in August, 2.3 percent more than July's 733,000 starts on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The report follows Tuesday's report from the National Association of Home Builders that said its confidence index in September rose for the fifth consecutive month.
The National Association of Realtors added to the good housing market news, saying Wednesday that existing home sales in August rose 7.8 percent more than July with 4.82 million single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops, sold in the month, using a seasonally adjusted annual rate.
It was the sixth consecutive month existing home sales were higher than the same month 12 months earlier.
In midmorning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average added 19.19 points, or 0.14 percent, to 13,583.83. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index lost 5.08 points, or 0.14 percent, to 3,173.37. The Standard and Poor's 500 gained 0.84 points, or 0.06 percent, to 1,460.16.
The benchmark 10-year treasury rose 10/32 to yield 1.776 percent.
The euro fell to $1.3042 from Tuesday's $1.3048. The U.S. dollar fell to 78.34 yen from 78.82 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added 1.19 percent, 108.44 points, to 9,232.21.
