By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks see-sawed up and down Wednesday, with key indexes significantly down by late morning, after the biggest-ever drop in consumer prices and another gloomy housing report offered little cheer to investors already fretting about the fate of the Big Three automakers. After climbing in and out of positive and negative turf, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 96.69 points to stand at 8,328, with 27 of its 30 components on the decline. The S&P 500 ) fell 18.52 points to 841, and the technology-led Nasdaq Composite dropped 25.78 points to 1,457. Shares of General Motors Corp. weighed most heavily on the blue chips, with shares of the automaker down 15.6%. Testifying on Capitol Hill for a second day, GM's chief executive and his counterparts at Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler are trying to make the case for the government extending a bridge loan to their ailing industry. See full report. "If one or more of the auto manufacturers were allowed to fail, it would likely bring additional volatility to credit, equity and foreign-exchange markets. With the associated increase in risk aversion, the Japanese yen would perform well, and possibly the dollar if investors rush to purchase safe-haven assets such as U.S. Treasurys," said Alex Meister, currency analyst at Wachovia Corp. Utilities, consumer staples and health care led sector gainers among the S&P's 10 industry groups, while financials, consumer discretionary and telecommunication services fronted the losses. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 239 million, and for every two stocks on the rise, five were declining. On the Nasdaq, nearly 159 million shares traded, and decliners topped advancers 7 to 5. Ahead of weekly petroleum inventories data, oil gained, with crude for December delivery rising 26 cents to $54.65 a barrel. Read Futures Movers. In other trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures climbed, with the contract for December up $21 to $753.7 an ounce. See Metals Stocks. Demand for gold coins and bars increased in recent months, even as gold futures fell far from record highs above $1,000 an ounce hit in March, according to a industry report. Read more. Data clouds Earlier in the day, the Labor Department reported consumer prices dipped a record 1% in October, driven by an 8.6% drop in energy costs. See detailed report. "There's no relief in the beleaguered housing market," analysts at Action Economics said of the Commerce Department's estimate that new home construction fell to a record low in October. Read Economic Report. And in a related report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said mortgage applications fell a seasonally adjusted 6.2% last week from the prior one, as lower interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages failed to stir prospective homebuyers. See details. In comments early Wednesday, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said regulation is the best means of preventing another financial crisis. At 2 p.m. Eastern time, the Fed is slated to release the minutes from its last meeting at which the central bank cut rates by half a percentage point, with futures pricing in another cut of this size in December. European stocks also fell, with banks getting hit for a third straight session. See Europe Markets. In Asia, stocks closed mostly lower. Read more. On Tuesday, U.S. stocks ended higher after a run-up in the final hour of trade, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average striking its third advance in 10 sessions. At Tuesday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 9.65% in November, according to a preliminary report from the Dow Jones Indexes. Year-to-date, the blue-chip index was down 36.49%

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