NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks got off to a sluggish start Tuesday despite upbeat reports on housing and inflation and surprisingly solid earnings from Morgan Stanley.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 39.06 to 10,836.53, Charts) and the broader S&P 500 index (down 7.40 to 1,259.92, Charts) barely budged while the Nasdaq composite (down 29.74 to 2,222.74, Charts) was a shade lower in the early going.

Stocks have fallen for three straight sessions, the market's longest losing streak since October.

Among stock movers, Morgan Stanley (unchanged at $56.67, Research) said fourth-quarter earnings rose 49 percent, beating expectations. Shares of the investment bank rose 2.5 percent in early trading.

In economic news, the Census Bureau reported that housing starts rose to an annual rate of 2.12 million in November, from a revised 2.02 million in October. It was the third best month on record for housing starts, and followed a sharp drop seen in the October reading.

Meanwhile, producer prices fell a larger-than-expected 0.7 percent last month, the biggest drop in 2-1/2 years, according to the Labor Department. The so-called core PPI, which strips out those volatile costs to provide a better gauge of underlying inflation pressures, edged up just 0.1 percent.

Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery rose 36 cents to $57.72 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices fell, raising the yield on the 10-year note to 4.47 percent from 4.44 percent late Monday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar rose versus the euro and yen.

COMEX gold for February delivery rose $3.10 to $509.20 an ounce.

In global trade, major Asian markets closed mostly higher Tuesday, and European markets were mostly lower.