U.S. stocks appeared likely to rise a bit after the opening bell, recovering a bit of losses after declining sharply Tuesday, as investors continued to take stock of the damage caused by hurricane Katrina.

Extensive damage to oil platforms and refineries in the Gulf of Mexico sent crude prices surging back above US$70 Wednesday morning.

To help cope with losses in the region, U.S. President George W. Bush announced the government will release oil from petroleum reserves to help area refiners.

In today’s economic news, Statistics Canada said that the Canadian economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the second quarter of the year, compared to 2.1% in the last quarter.

StatsCan said widespread growth in the demand for goods and services led to a 0.8% rise in real gross domestic product in the second quarter following a 0.5% increase in the first.

Continued strength in personal expenditures and a rebound in housing contributed to the strong second quarter performance, the government agency said.

In June, economic output advanced 0.2%, after increasing 0.3% in May and 0.4% in April

South of the border, the U.S. Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew a bit slower in the second quarter than first believed, at a 3.3% annual rate, partly because consumer spending was weaker than earlier estimated.

Economists had expected GDP to be revised upward to 3.6% from an initial reading of 3.4%.

The Chicago purchasing managers” survey, a key barometer of Midwest manufacturing activity, will be released at 10:00 ET.

The Canadian dollar opened at US83.95¢, up 0.02 of a cent from Tuesday”s close.

In overseas trading, European markets posted solid gains Wednesday, with London’s FTSE 100 adding 41.20 points to 5,297, the Paris CAC 40 up 28.42 at 4,385.08 and Germany’s DAX ahead 31.29 points at 4,823.01.

Overnight, the Japanese Nikkei 225 index fell 39.54 points, or 0.3%, to finish at 12,413.60.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index fell 18.67 points, or 0.1%, to finish at 14,903.55.

Toronto stocks edged higher Tuesday, as a new high in oil prices spurred the energy group, offsetting losses across other market sectors. The S&P/TSX composite index ticked up 14.66, or 0.14%, to 10,573.06

Scotiabank reported a third-quarter profit of $784 million, up 7%over last year. Nevertheless, its shares fell by 8¢, or 0.19%, to $41.02.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index dipped 2.59 points, or 0.14%, to 1,912.25.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 50.23 points, or 0.48%, at 10,412.82, after bottoming out at 10,350.00 during intra-day trading. The Nasdaq composite index fell 7.89 points, or 0.37%, to 2,129.76, while the S&P 500 dropped 3.87 points, 0.32%, to 1,208.41.