YAHOO: Stocks settled near the unchanged mark following relatively quiet day.

Specifically, the S&P 500 posted a loss of 0.3%, while the Nasdaq ended with a gain of 0.3%. Trading on the NYSE was light with 1.02 billion shares exchanging hands, marking the lowest level since August.

In economic news, U.S. manufacturing activity in October fell to the lowest level since 1982, according to the ISM Index survey. Specifically, the ISM Manufacturing Index declined 4.6 to 38.9 in October, which was worse than the expected reading of 41.0. The number indicates contraction in manufacturing and the overall economy.

The Federal Reserve said in its quarterly survey that 85% of domestic banks have tightened lending standards on commercial and industrial loans. Roughly 60% of banks tightened standards on consumer credit card loans and 70% have tightened on prime mortgages.

Credit markets continue to show improvement, however, with interbank lending rates, known as Libor, declining across most terms.

In corporate news, struggling retailer Circuit City (CC 0.36, +0.10) is closing 155 domestic stores, roughly 20%, due to its "deteriorating" liquidity position and the weak macroeconomic environment.

Automakers reported dismal sales numbers for October, impacted by the slowing economy and credit market turmoil. General Motors (GM 5.64, -0.15) reported a 45% year-over-year drop in October North American auto sales on an adjusted basis and said it was probably the worst industry sales month in the post-WWII era. Ford Motor (F 2.13, -0.06) reported a 30.2% drop in North American October sales and Toyota Motor (TM 76.46, +0.37) reported a 25.9% decrease in October U.S. sales.

In commodity trading, crude oil fell 5.2% to $64.30 per barrel as traders worry that the slowing global economy will sink demand. Meanwhile, the dollar climbed 0.8% against a basket of world currencies.

Five of the ten economic sectors posted a gain, led by telecom (+4.8%). The energy sector (-2.0%) was the main laggard, falling in conjunction with crude oil prices. DJ30 -5.18 NASDAQ +5.38 NQ100 0.0% R2K +0.2% SP400 0.0% SP500 -2.48 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1509/1.79 bln/1234 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1748/1.02 bln/1346