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TSX gains slightly, rally lacks momentum

By Alastair Sharp TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday in choppy trading, as energy and banking stocks helped lead the market back into positive territory after an earlier reversal, while index heavyweight Valeant Pharmaceuticals weighed. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index <.GSPTSE> closed up 32.38 points, or 0.25 percent, at 13,036.96. Seven of its 10 main groups rose. "They tried to rally, it was really oversold yesterday. But there's no real catalysts right now to turn this around," said Sid Mokhtari, director for institutional equity research at CIBC World Markets. "People are still worried about the election in Canada as well as what is happening in the U.S. in terms of earnings." The most influential gainers included Royal Bank of Canada , which rose 1.3 percent to C$72, and Bank of Nova Scotia , which advanced 1.3 percent to C$58.01. The overall financials group climbed 0.9 percent. The energy group climbed 1.5 percent, bolstered by higher crude prices, with Suncor Energy Inc up 2.6 percent to C$35.50, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd adding 3 percent to C$26.23. Index heavyweight Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc gyrated after taking a more than 16 percent hit in the previous session following accusations of "massive" price increases by U.S. Democratic lawmakers. Its shares ended down 4.4 percent at C$212.06. There were roughly as many decliners as advancers on the index, although there were no new 52-week highs and 19 new lows. (Additional reporting by Solarina Ho; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Lisa Shumaker)