Stocks started off Friday on a strong foot, only to slip over the course of the day.

The three major indices ultimately finished in the red to varying degrees.

First up, the scoreboard:

    Dow: 19,843.41, -8.83, (-0.04%)S&P 500: 2,258.07, -3.96, (-0.18%) Nasdaq: 5,437.16, -19.69, (-0.36%) US 10-year yield: 2.597%, +0.019

1. Housing starts plunged more than expected in November, pulling back from a nine-year high in the previous month, according to the Department of Commerce. Home groundbreakings fell by 18.7% at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.09 million.

2. The oil rig count jumped for the 7th straight week. The US oil rig count rose by 12 to 510 this week, according to oilfield-services giant Baker Hughes. One gas rig was brought online this week, taking the total to 126.

3. So many people are signing up for Obamacare, the government had to make a big change to its plans. The number of people signing up for the Affordable Care Act is taking off, and the groundswell of demand for the plans has caused CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services to push back some of their deadlines.

4. Trump isn't going to like what one bank has to say about China's currency. The currency is still extremely overvalued, according to Deutsche Bank strategist Gautam Kalani, who wrote in a note sent out to clients on Friday that the Chinese yuan was "the most expensive" currency in the world on a trade-weighted basis.

5. Gold jumped as tensions flared in the South China Sea. The yellow metal hit a session high above $1,141 an ounce, up 1%, after reports that China seized an American underwater drone off the coast of the Philippines on Thursday. It has since pulled back and was around $1,136 in the late afternoon.

6. "Rogue One" earned the biggest Thursday preview of any movie this year. In its Thursday preview screenings the movie took in $29 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the largest Thursday earner of the year. The latest entry in the "Star Wars" franchise beat out "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" ($27.7 million) and "Captain America: Civil War" ($25 million).

ADDITIONALLY:

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