U.S. stocks fell Friday, following some renewed concerns of geopolitical tension on an otherwise quiet trading day. Reuters reported that a Chinese warship seized an underwater drone deployed by a U.S. oceanographic ship in international waters off the Philippines, triggering a formal diplomatic protest from the United States and a demand for its return. It also was reported that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) now agrees with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) that Russia engaged in hacking the U.S. presidential election with the intent of helping Republican Donald Trump. In U.S. economic news, housing starts fell a sharp 18.7 percent in November, while building permits—a gauge of future construction activity—fell 4.7 percent. Oil prices rose, moving closer to new 17-month highs as some major OPEC producers notified customers they would cut supplies starting in January under an effort to balance an oversupplied market. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose $1, or 2 percent, to $51.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold rose, climbing above Thursday's nearly 11-month low, to above $1,130 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average was little changed, falling 8.83 to 19,843.41. Fifteen of the index's 30 components rose, led by health-insurance giant UnitedHealth, whose shares gained 2 percent. Caterpillar led 14 declining stocks, dropping 2 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.96, or 0.2 percent, to 2,258.07. Utilities led seven sectors higher, and technology led five sectors lower. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 19.70, or 0.4 percent, to 5,437.16. Shares of Apple fell slightly, while Intel stock fell 1.4 percent.
