(RTTNews.com) - Canadian stocks were lingering in the red Thursday morning even as commodities were extending gains on stimulus hopes, after the Federal Reserve's assertion of more help on the way and weak manufacturing data out of China that strengthened the hopes. Minutes from the recent Federal Reserve meeting released overnight showed that the central bank is losing patience with the pace of the fragile U.S. economic recovery. Many members of the Federal Reserve said additional monetary policy accommodation is likely warranted unless the economy improves substantially, potentially opening the door for another round of quantitative easing measures at the next meeting in September. Chinese PMI data released overnight showed manufacturing activity fell to a nine-month low in August, calling Beijing to speed up economic stimulus efforts. The preliminary reading of HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 47.8 from 49.3 in July, as new export orders slumped and inventories rose. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 25.67 points or 0.21 percent to 12,093.32. The price of crude oil was steady near $98 Thursday morning amid speculation that central banks will opt for further stimulus measures to support their sagging economies. Crude for October gained $0.42 to $97.68 a barrel. In the oil patch, Suncor Energy (SU.TO), Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) and Imperial Oil (IMO.TO) were down around 1 percent each. Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) was down close to 2 percent. Meanwhile, gold stocks were extending gains as the price of gold advanced to a four-month high Thursday morning with the U.S. dollar moving lower after the minutes from the recent Federal Reserve meeting raised hopes for further stimulus measures. Gold for December surged $34.40 to $1,674.90 an ounce. Among gold plays, Centerra Gold (CG.TO) surged 10 percent, Royal Gold (RGL.TO), Goldcorp. (G.TO) and Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) were up around 1 percent each. Australia focused metals miner Talison Lithium Ltd. (TLH.TO) surged over 50 percent to C$6.40 after it said it would be acquired by Rockwood Holdings Inc. (ROC) in an all-cash transaction for C$6.50 per share for an equity purchase price of around C$724 million, on a fully diluted basis. Telecommunications company Telus Corp. (T.TO) gained nearly 2 percent. Yesterday, the company said that it is putting a new proposal to exchange its non-voting shares into common shares on a one-for-one basis to a democratic vote of all its shareholders. In economic news from south of the border, the U.S. Labor Department said initial jobless claims edged up to 372,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 368,000. The modest increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected jobless claims to slip to 365,000 from the 366,000 originally reported for the previous week. A report released by the Commerce Department revealed new single-family home sales for July came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 372,000, a 3.6 percent increase from revised June rates. The June new home sales rate was also revised up to 359,000, higher than the 350,000 initially reported but still marking a notable decline from the 372,000 sales rate reported in May. Elsewhere, the euro zone private sector contracted for the seventh successive month in August, flash estimate from Markit Economics showed. The composite output index rose marginally to 46.6 from 46.5 in July. The reading was forecast to remain unchanged at 46.5. The Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturing rose to 45.3, a four-month high, from 44 in July. The expected reading was 44.2. Meanwhile, data from Destatis showed that the German economy expanded for the second straight time during the quarter ended June as initially estimated. Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent sequentially in the second quarter, but down from the 0.5 percent growth seen in the previous quarter.

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