North American stocks look likely to open higher Tuesday morning, as oil prices retreat below US$55 a barrel.

Crude-oil prices continued to decline early Tuesday, falling 37¢ to $US54.12 a barrel, ahead of Wednesday’s petroleum supply report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

South of the border, the U.S. Federal Reserve is due to release its consumer credit report for April at 15:00 ET. Economists’ estimates call for a US$5.6 billion increase, slightly above an increase of US$5.5 billion in the prior month.

On Monday, declines in base metals and information technology shares sent Toronto stocks lower. TheS&P/TSX composite index fell 17.20 points, or 0.18% to end at 9,653.97.

ATI Technologies weighed on the IT group after the graphics chip maker cut its third-quarter sales forecast and issued a worse-than-expected fourth-quarter outlook

AT shares plunged $2.02, or 10.61%, to finish at $17.01.

The junior S&P/ TSX Venture composite index declined 3.46 points, or 0.21%, to 1,677.27.

On Wall Street, U.S. stocks eked out gains.

The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average rose 6.06, or 0.06%, to 10,467.03.

Broader stock indicators were also narrowly higher. The S&P 500 index was up 1.49, or 0.12%, at 1,197.51, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 4.33, or 0.21%, to 2,075.76.