CANADA STOCKS-Gains in energy shares, Valeant drive TSX higher

 (Adds details, comments from fund manager; updates prices) 
    * TSX rises 101.39 points, or 0.75 percent, to 13,596.93 
    * Nine of the 10 main index sectors advance 
    * Valeant soars 12.5 percent after CEO comments, forecast 
 
    By John Tilak 
    TORONTO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index shook 
off three sessions of losses and rose sharply on Tuesday as 
energy company shares jumped and Valeant Pharmaceuticals 
International    surged after bullish comments from the 
drugmaker's top executive. 
    The market was swayed by figures that showed the U.S. trade 
deficit dropped to its lowest level in four years in November as 
exports hit a record high and weak oil prices restrained import 
growth.      
    That bullish signal outweighed signs of a slowdown in the 
Chinese economy. A Reuters poll found China's annual economic 
growth likely slowed slightly in the fourth quarter. 
   
    "If you want to look at returns, you're going to have to go 
into the equity market," said Fred Ketchen, director of equity 
trading at ScotiaMcLeod, who noted that investors were starting 
to favor stocks over fixed income. 
    "More and more people are starting to do that, and it's 
starting to pay off for them," he added. Returns for the 
Canadian equity market in 2014 are "likely to be positive but 
not runaway," he said. 
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index 
   closed up 101.39 points, or 0.75 percent, at 
13,596.93. Nine of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher. 
    Shares of energy producers were up 1.1 percent. Suncor 
Energy Inc    added 1.6 percent to C$37.17, and Enbridge 
Inc    rose 1.1 percent to C$46.17. 
    Valeant is looking to become one of the world's top five 
pharmaceutical companies by market capitalization by the end of 
2016, Chief Executive Michael Pearson said on a conference call 
with analysts. The company also forecast that revenue and cash 
earnings for 2014 would increase by about 40 percent. 
   
    Valeant shares shot up 12.5 percent to C$135.03, helping 
push the index's healthcare sector up 5.4 percent. 
    In other corporate news, a battle for Australian dairy 
company Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Holdings Co 
   raged on as local bidder Murray Goulburn Co-operative 
Co Ltd refused to concede to rival suitor Saputo Inc   , 
which has already secured regulatory approval to take over 
Warrnambool.     
    Saputo's stock gained 0.2 percent to C$48.75. 
    ($1=$1.08 Canadian) 
  
 
 (Editing by Peter Galloway) 
 ((john.tilak@thomsonreuters.com)(1-416-687-7918)(Reuters 
Messaging: john.tilak.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
  
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