Futures-market activity indicates that stocks are likely to open lower Tuesday, a day after the Nasdaq briefly slid to a new low for the year amid profit-taking.

In earnings news, Bank of Montreal released its first quarter results before the market opened.

The bank said its first-quarter profit rose because of lower loan loss provisions and improving economic conditions. First quarter net income climbed to $532 million, or $1 a share, from $399 million, or 75¢, in the year-before period.

South of the border, Home Depot reported a 39% jump in fourth-quarter profit to US$951 million on a 14% rise in sales to US$15.13 billion.

Canada’s largest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corp. said it aims to increase its production by 40% between this year and 2007 at a cash cost of less than US$200 an ounce. Barrick presented an update of its plans Tuesday, stating that four mines are to begin production between the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006.

Traders are expecting a reading on consumer confidence from the U.S. Conference Board at 10 ET. As well, Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan will testify before the U.S. Senate banking committee.

Here at home, Statistics Canada reported that the estimated number of Canadians receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in December was 559,890, down 1.4% from November. Although this was the fifth consecutive monthly decline, the number was still 2.4% higher than in December 2002.

Asian-Pacific stock markets closed mostly lower Tuesday, with shares in Tokyo sliding on losses in technology stocks.

Tokyo’s key stock index dropped 2.1% as the U.S. Nasdaq’s slide spurred active profit-taking in technology stocks such as Advantest and Tokyo Electron.The Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 224.83 points to close at 10,644.13.

Hong Kong shares ended slightly lower in thin trading. The blue-chip Hang Seng Index ended down 8.66 points, or 0.6%, at 13,756.41.

European stocks were lower midday Tuesday after a worse-than-expected reading on business sentiment in Germany.

Shares in Frankfurt are lower on a report that German business sentiment deteriorated in February, after rising for the previous nine months, as companies started to worry about the effects of a strong euro on competitiveness. The Xetra Dax Index is off 1.5% at 4,009.46.

In Paris, the CAC40 Index is down 0.7% at 3,704.74. London’s FTSE100 is down 0.4% at 4,506.00.

On Monday, the S&P/TSX composite index closed down 32.31 points to 8,609.62, its fourth-straight lower close.

Technology stocks were bore the brunt of selling with the information technology sector The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 48.99 points, or 2.56%, to 1,865.00.

In New York, stocks fell for the fourth straight session, with the Nasdaq Composite Index hitting its lowest level this year

The tech-heavy Nasdaq closed down 30.41 points, or 1.49%, at 2,007.52. The Dow Jones industrial average finished down 9.41 points at 10,609.62. The S&P 500 slipped 3.12 points, to 1,140.99.

The Canadian dollar rose 0.03¢ to close at US74.81¢.