Stocks slip, but Treasury gives General Motors a 7.2 percent lift NEW YORK, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes slid Wednesday after the Commerce Department said housing starts dropped 3 percent October to November. The report was issued a day after the National Association of Home Builders said Tuesday business confidence among builders had risen for the eighth consecutive month in December. General Motors stock bucked the trend. The Treasury Department said it would sell its 500.1 million shares of GM, including a sale of 200 million shares by the end of the year to GM for $27.50 per share. GM stock shot up 7.22 percent to $27.33 in midmorning trading. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 3.84 points or 0.03 percent to 13,347.12. The Standard and Poor's 500 was off 0.88 points or 0.06 percent to 1,445.91. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite added 5.08 points or 0.17 percent to 3,059.61. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index soared, adding 237.39 points, 2.39 percent, to 10,060.40. The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 10/32 to yield 1.787 percent. The dollar rose to 84.34 yen, up from Tuesday's 84.2 yen. The euro rose to $1.3263 from Tuesday's $1.3229.