By James Langton

(December 21 – 09:15 ET) – Stocks are likely to open modestly higher this morning according to the futures market, although there may be weakness in technology again today.

Lucent Technologies Inc. has lowered expectations for the first quarter and restated fiscal fourth-quarter revenue for a second time. Concerns remain in Cisco Systems and the networking group generally.

On the economic front, United States third-quarter GDP was reported up 2.2%, its weakest pace in four years. U.S. initial jobless claims are up, too. Neither figure should rock the market much, since it has already turned extremely bearish.

In Canada, international securities transactions showed Canadians added $3.9 billion in foreign securities to their holdings in October. Foreign investment in Canadian stocks was entirely acquisition related, as foreigners divested in the secondary market.

In Europe, stocks are following through on yesterday’s weakness in the U.S. Techs such as Versatel Telecom International NV and Marconi plc are leading the way down.

The euro continues to rise against the U.S. dollar, exacerbating problems. The FTSE is off 62 points to 6,114. The CAC 40 is down 28 to 5,738. The DAX has dropped 59 points to 6,190.

In M&A news, Eni SpA, Italy’s biggest oil company, is buying Lasmo plc for US$5.6 billion, beating out Amerada Hess Corp.

Deutsche Telekom AG shares are trading below US$30, which some say could jeopardize its plan to buy VoiceStream Wireless Corp.

Overnight in Asia stocks followed the U.S. selloff. The Nikkei dropped 491 points to 13,423. The Hang Seng fell 271 points to 14,659.