U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as investors turned cautious following data showing new U.S. home construction fell unexpectedly in October and a worrying outlooks from major software makers.

The Nasdaq briefly dropped 1 percent.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 62.43 points, or 0.60 percent, to 10,374.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dropped 6.20 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,104.12. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 19.68 points, or 0.89 percent, to 2,184.10.

(Reporting by Ellis Mnyandu; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)