Stocks are expected to open lower again this morning, in what should be a rather light day ahead of tomorrow’s holiday in the United States.

An analyst from Salomon Smith Barney has downgraded Microsoft, hurting the prospects for tech stocks.

On the economic front, U.S. initial jobless claims slipped another 15,000 to 427,000 last week. The fourth straight weekly drop is seen as a sign that layoffs are slowing.

In Canada, the Consumer Price Index for October came in at just 1.9%, the smallest rate since July 1999. The drop from 2.6% the prior month was mainly due to falling energy prices. The core CPI came in at 2.5%, little changed.

Also, wholesale sales dropped 0.9% in September. Nine of the 11 sectors reported declines. Wholesale sales totalled $32.7 billion, led by metals and hardware, food products, and industrial and other machinery.

In Europe, stocks are mixed. German business confidence unexpectedly fell to the lowest level in eight years in October. Drugs and utilities are up. Royal KPN NV is down after it announced plans for a US$4.4 billion new issue to cut debt.

The FTSE is up 30 points to 5,329. The CAC 40 is down 27 points though to 4,566. The DAX has dropped 16 points to 5,080.

Overnight in Asia stocks were mixed, too, ahead of the U.S. holiday. The Nikkei gained 86 points to 10,661. The Hang Seng was off 52 points to 11,174.

In earnings news, MOSAID Technologies Inc. reported its net loss for the second quarter, including restructuring charges, was $19,374,000, compared to net earnings of $1,650,000 for the second quarter last year.