U.S. stock futures pointed to an opening slump on the first day of December. Meanwhile, Canadian investors will be closely watching political dealings in Ottawa that could see a Liberal-NDP coalition replace the minority Conservative government.

Opposition parties say they have lost confidence in Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government after Thursday’s economic update by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty failed to provide a stimulus package for Canadians.

On Sunday, Flaherty said he will table the Conservative government’s fourth budget on Jan. 27, 2009.

In today’s economic news, real gross domestic product increased 0.3% in the third quarter, after remaining essentially flat over the first half of the year, Statistics Canada reported today.

Most of the third quarter gain occurred in July, StatsCan said. Economic activity declined in August before edging up 0.1% in September ahead of the financial market meltdown in October.

The Canadian dollar opened at US80.41¢, down 0.43 cent.

South of the border, the U.S. National Retail Federation estimated that American shoppers spent 7.2% more than last year on Black Friday, the start of the holiday shopping season.

Later Monday, the U.S. Institute of Supply Manufacturing will release its November index of factory activity.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking on the economic outlook at a Dallas Fed conference.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is due to give an update on the U.S. economy and markets.

In commodities news, oil futures dropped US$2.75 to US$51.68 a barrel as OPEC decided to wait until a formal meeting in mid-December before making a decision on whether to cut production.

Gold pulled back US$26.00 to US$793.00 an ounce on the Nymex.

In overseas trading, Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 1.4% and the FTSE 100 fell 2.5% in London.

On Friday, the Toronto Stock Exchange managed to shake off early-day declines and end with more strong gains on Friday, topping off a full week of daily growth for the benchmark index.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed at 9,270.62, up 516.85 points, or 5.9%. The index gained 13.7% for the week.

Junior companies on the TSX Venture exchange gained 18.12 points, or 2.4% to close at 766.35.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose on Friday in thin volume after the American Thanksgiving holiday.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 102.43 points, or 1.17%, to end at 8,829.04. The S&P 500 advanced 8.56 points, or 0.96%, to finish at 896.24. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index added 3.47 points, or 0.23%, to close at 1,535.57.

The U.S. stock market’s session ended at 13:00 ET.

For the week, the Dow gained 9.7%, while the S&P 500 jumped 12% and the Nasdaq surged 10.9%.

However, for the month of November, the Dow lost 5.3% for November, the S&P 500 fell 7.5%, and the Nasdaq tumbled 10.8%.