Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

A Toronto Stock Exchange ticker is seen at The Exchange Tower in Toronto on August 18 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

The Toronto stock market headed for a slightly higher open but resource stocks were likely to weigh on the TSX amid worries about a slowing global economy.

Rising prices for oil and metals pushed the commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar up 0.4 of a cent to 98.19 cents US.

U.S. futures rose as traders looked to the release of the minutes from the most recent U.S. Federal Reserve meeting for indications whether the central bank is considering another round of economic stimulus.

The Dow Jones industrial futures ran ahead 51 points to 12,636, the Nasdaq futures gained 7.8 points to 2,585.8 and the S&P 500 futures rose 4.8 points to 1,340.3.

Hopes for more action from the Fed have risen in the past week amid disappointing readings on the American manufacturing and service sectors and job creation numbers for June that were below even modest expectations.

Meanwhile, expectations are modest for second quarter corporate earnings.

Companies started reporting second-quarter results this week, with aluminum giant Alcoa reporting it beat reduced expectations.

Investors were dismayed when chip maker Advanced Micro Devices said Tuesday that weaker sales in China and Europe led to an 11 per cent drop in revenue in the April-to-June period. The company had previously forecast a gain of three per cent. J.P. Morgan and Google report results later this week.

Commodity prices gained ground after weak Chinese trade data sent oil and copper lower on Tuesday.

The August crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.12 to US$85.03 a barrel.

Copper gained a penny to US$3.41 a pound while bullion declined $3 to US$1,576.80 an ounce.