Economists were expecting sales to fall to 6.15 million annualized, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch.
September's sales were revised higher to 6.21 million from 6.18 million initially reported.
Sales are down 11.5% in the past year.
"As expected, existing-home sales appear to be stabilizing, fingers and toes crossed," said David Lereah, chief economist for the realtors' industry group.
Median sales prices fell a record 3.5% year-over-year, the third decline in a row. Prices had never fallen three months in a row since 1968, when the realtors began collecting data.
Falling prices are "a good thing," Lereah said.
Inventories of unsold homes increased 1.9% to 3.854 million, representing a 7.4-month supply at the October sales rate. It's the largest months' supply since April 1993.
Lereah said the rise in inventories in October was untroubling, since it reflected seasonal factors.
"Inventories have stabilized," he said.
"It's a positive for the economy," Lereah said. "I see some positive signs," pointing to lower mortgage rates and rising levels of mortgage applications.
Regionally, sales rose 6.4% in the West, were unchanged in the Midwest, and fell 2.9% in the Northeast and fell 1.2% in the South.
Sales of single-family homes rose 1.3% to 5.5 million. Sales of single-family homes are down 11% in the past year. Median sales prices fell 3.4% year-over-year to $221,300.
Sales of condos dropped 4.8% to 778,000. Median sales prices are down 5.3% in the past year to $214,300.
The consumer confidence index fell to 102.9 in November from a revised 105.1 in October, the private economic research group said. The index peaked at 105.9 in September.
This is the first back-to-back decline in the index since last September and October, when hurricanes ravaged the Gulf Coast region.
The decline in confidence surprised economists, who were expecting the index to increase to 106.4 from the initial October reading of 105.4, according to a survey conducted by MarketWatch.
Economists thought lower energy prices and an end to negative campaigning from the midterm election would boost confidence.
But concern about the job market and a more-guarded short-term outlook led to the drop in confidence, the Conference Board said.
Despite the weakness, Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's research center, said that confidence remains at a relatively high level, "suggesting the economy will continue to expand throughout the first half of next year."
this is it! correction happening now! my guess is whatever stocks will lose their gains by at least 5%. The market now should be like a falling knife, bargain hunters should only enter when vol falls!
Think Nasdaq will suffer lot again tonite due to Nokia's profit warning. *Yucks! US market opens in 4 minutes! Scary after a Thanksgiving rally! Its like Thanks-taking now ...
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MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks set to open lower after orders drop
Monthly consumer confidence, existing home sales reports are ahead
How the Dow behaves tonight will affect the STI tommorow. I believe (gut feel) that if the Dow is flat tonight, the STI might recover a little tommorow.
S&P 500 futures rose 0.2 of a point at 1,383.80 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2 points at 1,777.00. Dow industrials futures were flat.
U.S. stocks finished sharply lower on Monday on continued pressure for the dollar, Wal-Mart Stores downbeat sales forecast and concerns over Google Inc.'s valuations. The Dow industrials lost 158 points, the S&P 500 dropped 19 points and the Nasdaq Composite lost 54 points.
International stock markets also lost ground on Tuesday. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong tumbled 2.9%, while the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost a more modest 0.2%. European stocks were slightly lower in early afternoon trading.
Markets will have plenty of data and comments on Tuesday to sift through to reinforce or contradict growing sentiment that there will be a sharp U.S. economic slowdown.
Bernanke is due to speak at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, with Chicago Fed President Michael Moskow speaking four hours later.
One real scary problem over shadowing the rest, niche mkt play will depend again on...., what is bad for DOW and US$ , may not be so bad for other, Today (Tues) 3/4 stocks in red for STI (@_@) (!_!). 2moro (Wed) Green for STI, mirroring Dow.futuressuggesting big selloff could prove to be a one-day event. (Gd luck to all players).
(CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks slumped Monday, with the Dow industrials posting its biggest one-day percentage drop since July, as investors eyed higher oil prices, a weaker dollar and a cautious outlook from Wal-Mart and decided to head for the exits. The Dow Jones industrial average (down 158.46 to 12,121.71, Charts) lost around 158 points, or 1.3 percent, seeing its biggest one-day point and percentage drop since July 13.
The broader S&P 500 (down 19.05 to 1,381.90, Charts) index slid 1.4 %, seeing its biggest one-day % loss since June 5. Last week, the S&P 500 hit a six-year high.
Nasdaq composite (down 54.34 to 2,405.92, Charts) lost 2.2 %, seeing its biggest one-day % decline since June 5. Tech-fueled index touched a nearly 6-year high last week.
As of , Nasdaq and S&P futurespointed to a mixed open Tuesday, when fair value is taken into account, suggesting the big selloff could prove to be a one-day event
As of Friday's close, the Nasdaq was up 11.6 % year-to-date and up 8.6 % in the 4th Q. The Dow was up 14.6 % in 2006 and 5.1 % since Sept. 30. The S&P 500 had risen 12.2 % this year and 4.9 % since the end of September.
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