North American stocks may slide at Friday’s open after the release of disappointing U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product data and a lower-than-expected revenue forecast from Microsoft.

The U.S. Commerce Department today reported GDP increased at a seasonally adjusted 1.6% annual rate in its first estimate of third-quarter GDP. The gain was weaker than the second quarter’s 2.6% rate and the first quarter’s strong 5.6% pace. It was the lowest rate of growth since 1.2% in the first three months of 2003.

Wall Street economists had called for a 2.2% increase in GDP.

Crude-oil futures rose five cents at US$60.41 a barrel.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

The Canadian dollar opened at US89.02¢, down 0.04 of a cent.

Microsoft reported an 11% increase in profit and revenue in its fiscal first quarter. But the software giant’s projected revenue for the fiscal second quarter was lower than analysts expected.

Later this morning, the final reading of the University of Michigan’s U.S. consumer confidence gauge for October will be released.

In other earnings news, Volkswagen AG said Friday that its third-quarter net profit plunged 92% even as its performance in the first nine months of 2006 improved from a year ago as demand for its upscale Audis increased, as did sales of its cars made by Skoda and VW.

Sun Microsystems posted a narrower-than-expected loss and a 17% increase in revenue for its fiscal first quarter, as it benefited from recent acquisitions and increased sales to its services business.

Chevron reported third-quarter net income of US$5 billion, or $2.29 a share, up from US$3.6 billion, or $1.64 a share, in the year-ago period.

Stocks in Europe hovered around the flat line, with the FTSE 100 slightly lower as pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline were the subject of multiple broker downgrades.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo ended 0.9% lower, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong hit an intraday record before closing 56.19 points, or 0.31% lower, at 18,297.55.

Shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China rose 17.5% in early trading in Hong Kong on Friday, in line with market expectations of a strong debut for the world’s largest-ever initial public offering.

Toronto stocks dipped marginally lower Thursday, after several strong sessions, with the energy sector cooling off after recent strength.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 5.97 points, or 0.05%, to 12,335.68.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index gained 15.21 points, or 0.61%, to 2,529.25.

In New York, markets were up on strong corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 28.98 points at 12,163.66, the fourth-consecutive record close this week.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index gained 22.51 points to 2,379.10, its best close in six-and-a-half year, and the S&P 500 Index moved up 6.86 points to 1,389.08, its highest finish in about six years.