Bay Street Seen Opening With Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is likely to open with a positive bias on Thursday as energy stocks are expected to climb higher on firm crude oil prices.

The mood, however, is likely to remain cautious amid lingering concerns about the health of the Chinese economy and on uncertainty about the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

Amid a lack of economic and earnings data, the market is likely to move in a tight range.

The Canadian market ended flat on Wednesday after a choppy session. The mood was cautious amid speculation the Fed will continue to hold interest rates higher for longer time.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting on July 25 & 26, released this afternoon, showed "most of the central bank officials continued to see significant upside risks to inflation, which could require further tightening of monetary policy."

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which scaled a low of 19,852.04 and a high of 19,965.71 intraday, settled at 19,899.07, down less than a point from the previous close.

Asian stocks declined on Thursday amid mounting China worries and on hawkish Fed minutes.

China's offshore yuan hit a fresh nine-month low against the dollar on renewed concerns over a Chinese economic slowdown and fears of a debt meltdown in the country's property sector.

Fears of further rate hikes weighed on risk appetite after the minutes of the Fed's July meeting showed a number of officials still saw the need for more interest rates to curb stubborn inflation.

Chinese shares reversed course to end higher despite a warning from Fitch Ratings that it may reconsider China's A+ sovereign credit score.

European stocks are weak amid worries over China's sluggish economic recovery and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.72 or 0.91% at $80.10 a barrel.

Gold futures are up marginally at $1,928.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.285 or 1.26% at $22.820 an ounce.