By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were poised to open little changed on Tuesday as investors digested the final figures for the third-quarter gross domestic product for November and await data on the health of the housing industry.
Surprises in the figures for November existing and new home sales could have a stronger-than-usual impact because of the holiday-thinned trading volumes.
The GDP figure confirmed that the economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5 percent as economists had expected. Focus has shifted to the current quarter which is expected to be much weaker.
"In the first read, it doesn't look like any major change." said Jim Awad, Managing Director at Zephyr Management in New York. "Investors are really focused on the fourth-quarter."
S&P 500 futures rose 1.8 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 10 points, and Nasdaq 100 shed 3 points.
Commercial finance company CIT Group
European shares were up by midday on Tuesday, with utilities and food companies the best performing stocks in thin trade ahead of Christmas.
Asian stocks fell for a third straight session on Tuesday as a continued retreat in oil prices below $40 a barrel hit resource-related shares, while auto makers slumped after Toyota's bleak outlook.
Retailers remain in focus in the waning days before the Christmas holiday, as a survey released on Tuesday showed just 38.7 percent of Americans went shopping during the final weekend before Christmas, the lowest turnout in at least six years.
The percentage of Americans shopping this past weekend is down from 41.6 in 2007, according to the survey by America's Research Group and UBS.
American Greetings
Shares fell 10.3 percent to $8.81 in premarket trade.
Other companies expected to report earnings Tuesday include Micron Tech
U.S. stocks slid on Monday on more evidence the year-long recession will keep eating into corporate profits, while retailers tumbled on worry the holiday shopping season could be the worst in nearly 40 years.
With just six trading days remaining in the year, there is little hope the markets will avoid having their worst yearly performance since the 1930s. The S&P 500 is down about 40 percent for the year.
(Additional reporting by Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Tom Hals)
