Stocks slip…Home prices increase less…Factory orders decline

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are lower in early trading on Wall Street, led by declines in the energy sector. Oil prices sank to four-year lows near $77 a barrel following reports Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest oil producer, is cutting its prices for customers in the U.S. Energy stocks in the S&P 500 index dropped 2 percent.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Home prices are rising at a slowing pace as the U.S. housing market continues to cool off. Real estate data provider CoreLogic says prices increased 5.6 percent in September compared to a year ago. That’s down from annual gains of 6.4 percent in August and 6.8 percent in July. Home prices had been climbing by as much as 12 percent annually toward the end of last year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Commerce Department says orders to U.S. factories declined six-tenths of a percent in September, after having plunging 10 percent in August. The declines are largely due to falling demand for aircraft. Excluding the volatile transportation sector, factory orders have been flat for the past two months.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit has grown as a broader global economic slowdown caused exports to fall. The Commerce Department say the trade deficit rose 7.6 percent to $43 billion in September, the first increase in four months. Exports fell 1.5 percent to $195.6 billion, led by declines in shipments of industrial supplies, capital goods and consumer products. September imports held steady at $238.6 billion for the second straight month.

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 202,000 cars, vans and trucks in North America in five separate recalls to fix gas leaks, air bag sensors, stalling and other issues. The largest of the recalls announced today affects about 135,000 F-150 pickups and Ford Flex family haulers from the 2014 model year. Faulty passenger seat weight sensors can stop air bags from inflating in crashes.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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