Wall Street traded lower Friday as the housing and confidence data slump. The U.S. Commerce Department reported Friday that construction of new homes and apartments dropped by 6.3 percent in September, bigger than the 1.6 percent decrease that economists had expected.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, October 17, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 127.04, or 1.41 percent, to 8,852.22. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 5.88, or 0.62 percent, to 940.55, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 6.42, or 0.37 percent, to 1,711.29.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet