By Claire Sibonney

TORONTO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock market eased

on Wednesday, led by a decline in Barrick Gold Corp,

the world's largest gold producer, after the release of

disappointing earnings from its African subsidiary.

African Barrick Gold Plc forecast production would

shrink for a fifth straight year and said it would focus on

cutting soaring costs after talks over a possible takeover of

the company collapsed in January. Its shares were off more than

11 percent.

That sent Barrick, which owns a majority stake in the

company, 2.6 percent lower to C$31.72. The gold miners as a

whole were down 1.7 percent.

'We do think the golds are deeply oversold at this point,

but the news that keeps coming out from the companies really

doesn't inspire much confidence,' said Elvis Picardo, strategist

and vice president of research at Global Securities in

Vancouver.

A slew of gold producers is due to report quarterly

earnings, with Agnico Eagle Mines Ltd and Kinross Gold

Corp later on Wednesday and Barrick Gold and Goldcorp Inc on Thursday.

The drop in gold stocks more than offset a 2.1 percent rise

in the shares of Talisman Energy Inc, which reported a

quarterly profit on gains from asset sales.

'We continue to have a mixed earnings picture,' said Fred

Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod.

Other major companies that will report results this week

include Encana Corp and Sun Life Financial Inc .

A 2.3 percent drop in Thomson Reuters Corp shares

also weighed on the index after its revenue forecast for 2013

failed to impress analysts, although quarterly operating profit

grew 2 percent due to cost cutting. The stock ended at C$30.02.

Still, of the nearly 20 percent of TSX stocks that have

reported earnings for the quarter, 64 percent have met or beat

expectations, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index ended down 13.74 points, or 0.11 percent, at

12,775.28.

Five of the 10 main sectors on the index were in negative

territory.

Picardo noted the index was having trouble breaking through

the 12,800 level.

Part of the problem is heightened concern about the

potential for the Canadian economy, especially given the soft

economic reports of last Friday, including disappointing jobs

and housing data.

The market was supported by a 0.2 percent rise in the

financial sector. Royal Bank of Canada gained 0.6

percent to C$63.37. Bank of Nova Scotia rose 0.4

percent to C$58.82.

'People are very confident with the sector. It's very low

risk,' Ketchen said.

The stable earnings and dividend payouts are also drawing

investors to financials, he added.

(Reporting by Claire Sibonney.; Additional reporting by John

Tilak. Editing by Andre Grenon)

((claire.sibonney@thomsonreuters.com)(1-416-941-8142)(Reuters

Messaging: claire.sibonney.reuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: MARKETS CANADA/STOCKS

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