U.S. stock futures lost ground Tuesday with the housing sector in focus ahead of existing home sales data and after U.S. homebuilder Lennar reported a sizable net loss.

Lennar swung to fiscal third-quarter net loss of US$513.9 million from a profit of US$206.7 million a year ago as revenue and deliveries fell.

In other U.S. housing news, analysts expect the annual pace of existing-home sales in August to have fallen to around 5.49 million, down from 5.75 million in July.

Here at home, there are no major economic announcements from Statistics Canada.

Bank of Canada governor David Dodge speaks later today in Vancouver on the theme “Turbulence in Credit Markets: Causes, Effects and Lessons to Be Learned.”

The Canadian dollar opened at US99.58¢, down 0.25 of a cent after hitting parity with the greenback again Monday.

In other business news, General Motors of Canada’s No. 1 car assembly plant in Oshawa, Ont., has been shut down, idling close to 3,000 people, as a strike against GM in the United States halts the flow of key components.

The strike against GM in the U.S. began late Monday morning, when 73,000 United Auto Workers members walked out.

U.S. retailers Target and Lowe’s cut their financial forecasts. Target cut its forecast for September same-store sales, citing weaker-than-expected traffic.

J.P. Morgan Chase said it has received regulatory approval to form a joint venture with a Chinese brokerage, under which they will trade derivatives on local Chinese exchanges.

Oil prices dropped, with a barrel of light sweet crude down 71¢ to US$80.24 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, European stocks traded lower, with the UK’s FTSE 100 index down 1% as the weakness in BP’s weighed on the London market.

Toronto stocks rose slightly Monday, thanks the heavyweight energy sector, which benefited from a $5 billion takeover bid for Primewest Energy Trust.

The S&P/TSX composite index surged as much as 100 points in the early going but closed up 18.21 points, or 0.1%, at 13,958.28, with only three of its 10 main sectors higher.

Primewest said Abu Dhabi National National Energy Co will buy it in a $5 billion cash deal. Primewest shares closed up $6.37, or 32%, at $26.31.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index moved up 16.2 points to 2,834.44.

In New York, stocks slipped as concern about the impact of the housing slump and credit squeeze hurt shares of financial companies.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 24.47 points, or 0.18%, at 13,795.72. The S&P 500 was down 4.53 points, or 0.30%, at 1,521.22. The Nasdaq composite index was down 1.20 points, or 0.04%, at 2,670.02.