North American stocks look set to open lower, one day after the S&P/TSX composite index closed above 12,000 points for the first time, amid news that General Motors will cut its dividend in half.

GM today announced plans to cut its US$2-a-share yearly dividend in half and cut executive salaries.

In other news, oil prices slipped in early trading ahead of weekly U.S. inventory data due out later today that is expected to show supply build-ups. In electronic trading, crude for March delivery was down 76¢ at US$64.35.

In Monday’s earnings news, Disney net income rose 7% in its fiscal first quarter, as strong performances from its U.S. theme parks and its ABC television network offset another tough quarter for the company’s movie studio.

Husky Energy Inc. posted record annual profits of $2 billion for 2005 and tripled its fourth-quarter profits to $669 million from $225 million in the same period a year ago.

Alcan Inc. said its fourth-quarter loss widened to US$361 million, from a year-earlier US$346 million, after a big charge for restructuring and one-time writedowns.

In this morning’s earnings, Coca-Cola today reported a 28% drop in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by tax charges, but the soft drink giant beat Wall Street expectations when certain one-time items are excluded.

Tech bellwether Cisco Systems reports after the closing bell.

Overseas, BP’s 22% increase in quarterly profit didn’t meet consensus expectations, though the share decline was limited as it said it could return up to US$65 billion to shareholders over the next three years if oil prices stay above US$60 a barrel.

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at midday in Europe.

Asian markets slipped Tuesday, as the benchmark Nikkei 225 index shed 0.2% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In Hong Kong, the blue-chip Hang Seng Index fell 31.05 points, or 0.2%, to 15,517.01.

The Canadian dollar opened at US87.13¢, down 0.09 of a cent.

On Monday, Toronto stocks rallied Monday, tearing through the 12,000-point plateau, powered ahead by a booming resource sector.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 142.91, or 1.20%, to 12,080.53, hitting a new all-time record close.

The benchmark index’s previous record close was 11,952.14, recorded on February 1.
The junior S&P/TSX venture composite index put in a strong performance Monday. It closed up 34.86 points, or 1.36%, to 2,606.49.

In New York, markets were flat as global tensions kept investors cautious and careful.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.65 points to 10,798.27, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 3.78 points to 2,258.80, while the S&P 500 index was up 0.99 of a point to 1,265.02.