U.S. stocks closed mostly lower but well above session lows as the Standard & Poor's 500 index held a technical level and biotechs recovered to trade higher. In U.S. economic news, the December CPI showed a 0.1 percent decline. Excluding food and energy, the index rose 0.1 percent after rising 0.2 percent for three straight months. In the 12 months through December, this so-called core CPI rose 2.1 percent, the largest gain since July 2012, after climbing 2.0 percent in November. Building permits fell 3.9 percent in December. Housing starts dropped 2.5 percent but the seasonally adjusted annual pace remained above a 1 million. The dollar held mildly higher against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for February delivery lost $1.91 to $26.55 a barrel, its lowest since May 2003, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while gold futures added $17.10 to $1,106.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average declined 175, or 1.11 percent, to 15,837. The broader S&P 500 index fell 13, or 0.73 percent, to 1,866. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 9, or 0.13 percent, to 4,482.