CANADA STOCKS-TSX may open higher, China GDP raises stimulus hopes

July 13 (Reuters) - Canada's resource-heavy main stock index looked set to open higher, mirroring global equity and commodity markets, after growth data from China soothed worries of a drastic hit to the world's No. 2 economy, but was low enough to keep open the possibility of further stimulus.

TOP STORIES

* JPMorgan Chase & Co, the biggest U.S. bank, posted $4.4 billion of credit trading losses, but said it had cleaned up the group responsible for the bad bets.

* China's growth rate slowed for a sixth successive quarter to its slackest pace in more than three years, highlighting the need for more policy vigilance from Beijing even as signs emerge that action taken so far is beginning to stabilize the economy.

* Italy passed a tough market test on Friday as its three-year borrowing costs fell well below 5 percent at an auction hours after Moody's cut the country's rating to two notches above junk status.

* U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the Bank of England in June 2008 to make changes in the way that Libor, a key interest rate benchmark, was set, according to documents obtained by Reuters.

MARKET SNAPSHOT

* Canada stock futures traded up 0.23 percent

* U.S. stock futures , , were up around 0.3 percent

* European shares, were up

COMMODITY PRICE MOVES

* Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index : 292.59; rose 0.8 percent

* Gold Futures : $1,580.7; rose 1.01 percent

* US Crude : $86.85; rose 0.89 percent

* Brent Crude : $101.9; rose 0.82 percent

* LME 3-month Copper : $7,656.5; rose 1.34 percent

CANADIAN STOCKS TO WATCH

* South American Silver Corp. : The Bolivian government is willing to compensate South American Silver Corp SAC.TO for revoking its concession on the Malku Khota project, but it will be far less than the $16 million the company says it has invested, the country's vice president said on Thursday.

* Tim Hortons Inc. : The company, which is best known for its coffee and doughnuts, is pushing for more of Canada's lunch market, and its CEO sees the chain's share of the Canadian lunch trade overtaking McDonald's within about five years.

ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS

Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters.

* Cogeco Cable : Canaccord Genuity raises to buy on valuation; NBF cuts price target to C$51 from C$56, after the company reported weak third quarter results

* Corus Entertainment : Canaccord Genuity cuts to hold from buy, after the company reported third-quarter results below market expectations

* DragonWave : Canaccord cuts target on U.S. listed shares of the company to $4.50 from $5, after the company announced second quarter revenue outlook below Wall Street expectations

* Empire Company : CIBC cuts target to C$61 from C$65 on lowered earnings forecast as it expects the environment for grocers to be challenging for the next few years

* IGM Financial : Barclays cuts price target to C$41 from C$45, expects second quarter earnings to decline on the back of volatile equity markets

ON THE CALENDAR

* No major Canadian economic data scheduled for release

* Major U.S. events and data includes producer prices and the Reuters/ University of Michigan sentiment index