Stocks ended little changed Wednesday, as investors considered new U.S. housing data and another series of corporate earnings reports. In U.S. economic news, housing starts jumped 15 percent to an annual rate of 872,000 in September, the government reported. It was the highest level in more than four years and better than economists had expected. Building permits for future construction also rose to the highest level in more than four years. Of the 37 Standard & Poor’s 500 index companies that have reported third-quarter results, 23 have beat analyst expectations. The U.S. dollar fell versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for November delivery fell 20 cents to $91.89 a barrel, dropping after the U.S. government reported growing crude and gasoline inventories. Gold futures rose $6.70 to $1,753 an ounce.