Stocks slump on housing report

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slumped Monday morning, giving up an early neutral stance after a surprisingly weak read on new home sales sparked a big selloff.

The Dow Jones industrial average (down 12.58 to 12,468.43, Charts) lost a few points in the early going and the broader S&P 500 (down 0.45 to 1,435.66, Charts) index was little changed. The Nasdaq (up 4.43 to 2,453.36, Charts) composite added a few points.

Stocks had been mixed at the open as investors eyed an upgrade of Dell and a run up in oil prices following last week's big rally.

But the mood turned sour following the 10:00 a.m. ET release of the February new home sales report

Stocks were mixed Friday at the end of an otherwise upbeat week on Wall Street, in which all three major gauges added at least 3 percent and the Dow saw its best one-week point gain since March 2003.

U.S. light crude oil for May delivery added 72 cents to $63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after the U.N. tightened sanctions against Iran amid ongoing worries about the nation's nuclear program.

In corporate news, Citigroup (down $0.04 to $51.68, Charts) is reportedly looking to cut 15,000 jobs, or around 5 percent of the workforce as part of a broader restructuring plan that could cost the bank $1 billion.

Dell (up $0.68 to $23.51, Charts) shares rose on a Goldman Sachs upgrade, Reuters reported. The investment bank raised Dell to "buy" from "neutral" citing a number of catalysts over the next 18 months.

Treasury prices slipped, raising the yield on the 10-year note to about 4.62 percent from about 4.61 percent late Friday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

In currency trading, the dollar gained modestly versus the euro and yen.

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