U.S. stocks were likely open flat Tuesday as many traders clear out for the holidays.

In economic news, the U.S. economy contracted at a 0.5% annual rate in the third quarter, according to a government report released today. Gross domestic product fell at a 0.5% annual rate July through September, the U.S. Commerce Department reported. That was the same rate reported a month earlier.

Wall street economists had forecast a revised decline of 0.6%.

Data on new- and existing-home sales in the U.S. are due later Tuesday.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened 0.12 of a cent higher from Monday’s close of US82.03¢.

There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.

In company news, Barrick Gold Corp. has tapped Aaron Regent to be its next CEO, the company announced Tuesday.

Regent is currently the senior managing partner of Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and co-CEO of its infrastructure group. Regent will assume his duties on Jan. 16.

He was previously the president and CEO of Canadian mining company Falconbridge Ltd. from 2002 to 2005.

In commodities news, light, sweet crude rose 35¢ to US$40.26 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Asian markets slumped as an interest rate cut in China disappointed investors and a profit warning from Toyota Motor Corp. raised concerns the global recession would worsen.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.75%. Japan’s market was closed for a national holiday.

European markets advanced.

In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.42%, Germany’s DAX index was up 0.29%, and France’s CAC-40 was up 0.23%.

On Monday, weakness in commodities led to a hefty plunge for the Toronto Stock Exchange that saw nine of the 10 main groups finish in the red.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 302.47 points, or 3.5%, to finish the day at 8,249.53.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index ended the day in the red, down 7 points, or 1%, at 692.02.

In New York, the main indexes rebounded from deeper losses that they experienced earlier in the day, but still finished the day in negative territory.

The Dow Jones industrial average finished at 8,519.93, down 59.42 points, or 0.7%.

The blue-chip declines were led by General Motors Corp., which fell 21.6% to finish at US$3.52 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Nasdaq composite index dipped 31.97 points, or 2%, to 1,532.35.

The S&P 500 index slid 16.25 points, or 1.8%, to 871.63.

IE