US stock futures were little changed on Tuesday, after a report showed US economy shrank 0.5% in third quarter, in line with consensus estimates.

At 8:35 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March advanced 1 point to 872.30. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 18 points to 8521. Nasdaq Composite Index futures shed 3 points to 1194.

A release by US Commerce Department showed real gross domestic product shrank at 0.5% at annual pace in the third quarter, matching the previous as well as consensus estimates.

The U.S. Federal Reserve Board on Monday approved commercial finance firm CIT Group's (NYSE: CIT) application to convert into a bank holding company, enabling it to access up to $2.5 billion in capital from Treasury Department's $700 billion rescue program.

Linux software vendor Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) said on Monday afternoon that its third quarter net income 20% to $24.3 million, or 12 cents a share, from $20.3 million, or 10 cents a share in the corresponding quarter, a year ago. Excluding stock-based compensation and other charges the company earned $48.4 million, or 24 cents a share, for the quarter. Quarterly revenue jumped 22% to $165.3 million. Analysts on an average were looking for company to report earnings of 18 cents a share on revenue of $166.4.

Business software maker Tibco Software Inc.(NASDAQ: TIBX)  announced that fourth quarter earnings rose to $32.3 million or 18 cents a share, from $27.6 million or 14 cents a share in year ago quarter. Excluding items, the company said it would have earned 23 cents a share. Total quarterly revenue decreased to $185.5 million from $186.1 million in the same period in 2007. Consensus estimates were for earnings of 19 cents a share on revenue of $195.6 million.

According to reports, Hong Kong Disneyland is planning to expand the size of its park grounds by 30% and talks are underway between Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) and Hong Kong officials.

On Monday, Credit Suisse downgraded General Motors' (NYSE: GM) rating to "underperform" from neutral and cut price target to $1 from $2."In light of the complete overhaul of GM's capital structure that will likely be required to turn the company into a 'viable' entity and to comply with the government's requirements to receive the just-agreed-upon $13.4 billion in loans, we think existing equity holders will be largely (if not entirely) wiped out in the process," said Credit Suisse analyst Christopher Ceraso. Additionally, Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the credit ratings of General Motors Corp. and Ford. "We've been pretty clear all along that this government money we view as buying these companies time, but not solving their problems. It's not going to change their fundamental issues," said Robert Schultz, the S & P credit analyst.

On the front of economic data, existing home sales, new home sales and Michigan Reuters consumer sentiment index are scheduled for release at 10:00 am ET.

Late on Monday, an independent investigator at Treasury Department IT said the Office of Thrift Supervision had allowed IndyMac to backdate the capital to meet the 10% capitalization threshold needed under U.S. banking regulations to qualify as a "well capitalized" institution.

A release by Office for National Statistics on Tuesday showed the U.K. contracted 0.6% from the second quarter, its biggest decline since 1990.Output in production industries dropped 1.4%, while output in the services industry fell 0.5% in third quarter.

European stocks advanced in afternoon trade. At 13:04 pm London time, the U.K. FTSE rose 24.42 points or 0.57% to 4,273.58. The German DAX and French CAC climbed 0.68% and 0.36% respectively.

Asian stocks finished in negative territory. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 401.60 points or 2.75% to close at 14,220.79.Strait Times slipped 21.09 points or 1.21% to 1,724 in Singapore.

NYMEX Crude oil for February delivery climbed 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $39.96.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.