CANADA STOCKS-TSX broadly higher, set for 9 pct gain in 2013

    * TSX up 51.80 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,628.97 
    * Annual gain much smaller than U.S. indices 
 
    By Alastair Sharp 
    TORONTO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose 
on Tuesday, boosted by gains among a broad swath of companies 
including banks, railways and energy companies, as investors 
looked optimistically ahead to 2014. 
    The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index 
   is on track for a gain of more than 9 percent in 2013, 
a far smaller gain that those notched by the three main U.S. 
indices. 
    It was up 51.80 points, or 0.38 percent, at 13,628.97 points 
by mid-morning, on the back of modest gains in all but two of 
the index's ten main sectors. 
    Resource stocks, which make up a large chunk of the overall 
index, had the biggest positive impact, with Canadian Natural 
Resources Ltd    up 1 percent at C$35.95.  
    Gold miners reversed losses from Monday, with Goldcorp Inc 
   up 2.8 percent at C$22.87 and Barrick Gold Corp    
gaining 2.2 percent to C$18.61. 
    Producers of the precious metal have been hard-hit this year 
as the price of bullion has plummeted.  GOL/  
    While a seemingly surer footing for the global economy has 
many investors confident that Canada's resource stocks will lift 
their game in the next year, some are still ringing a note of 
caution. 
    "I don't share everybody's enthusiasm for the markets. They 
are trading at rarefied levels," said John Ing, president of 
Maison Placements Canada, referring to U.S. markets overall and 
specific sectors of the Canadian market such as banks. 
    He said interest rates on 10-year government bonds should 
rise further, as the U.S. Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus 
that has supported equities for several years.  
    One sector that could gain would be gold, he said. 
    "The byproduct of higher interest rates will be volatility 
in the market and a return to risk assets, and that's where gold 
does well." 
 
 (Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Nick Zieminski) 
 ((alastair.sharp@reuters.com)(+1 416 941 8118)(Reuters 
Messaging: alastair.sharp.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
  
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