CANADA STOCKS-TSX falters as Goldcorp, energy shares drop

    * TSX falls 66.04 points, or 0.48 percent, to 13,681.48 
    * Eight of 10 main index sectors decline 
    * Goldcorp down 1 percent, Osisko up 20.7 percent 
    * Magna climbs after Barron's report 
 
    By John Tilak 
    TORONTO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index 
dropped on Monday as shares of Goldcorp Inc    declined 
after the miner made a $2.6 billion ($2.4 billion) offer to 
acquire a smaller rival and shares of energy producers fell on 
weaker oil prices.  
    Goldcorp launched an unsolicited cash-and-stock bid to buy 
Osisko Mining Corp    to gain control of Osisko's Malartic 
gold mine in Quebec.    
    Further dampening the mood, the price of oil sold off on 
news of a deal between Western nations and Iran to curb the 
country's nuclear program.  O/R  
    Investors were also cautious about what the U.S. and 
Canadian earnings seasons, just getting underway, will bring. 
    The Canadian benchmark index, which rose 9.6 percent last 
year, eased on Monday after four straight days of gains. 
    The market will be volatile this year, said Marcus Xu, 
portfolio manager at MY Capital Management Corp in Vancouver, 
but he predicted the TSX benchmark will perform more strongly 
than it did last year. 
    "The sentiment is starting to improve. A lot of people are 
starting to warm up to (Canadian equities)," he said. 
     The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index 
   closed down 66.04 points, or 0.48 percent, at 
13,681.48, after reaching as high as 13,771.13 earlier in the 
session, its highest level since mid-2011. 
    Eight of the 10 main sectors on the index were in the red. 
    Energy shares gave back 1.3 percent. In the group, Suncor 
Energy Inc    lost 1.8 percent to C$37.27, and Canadian 
Natural Resources Ltd    declined 0.9 percent to C$35.85. 
    Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, were 
down 0.4 percent, with Manulife Financial Corp    dropping 
2.3 percent to C$21.59. 
    But auto-parts maker Magna International    advanced 
0.5 percent to C$90.73 after Barron's, in a report on Sunday, 
said a possible recovery in the European car market could lift 
Magna shares in 2014.    
    The gold-mining sector ended in positive territory, though 
Goldcorp weakened 1 percent to C$25.04. Osisko shot up 20.7 
percent to C$6.24. 
    ($1=$1.09 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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