CANADA STOCKS-TSX futures rise as precious metals extend rally

Dec 23 (Reuters) - Canadian stock futures climbed on Tuesday, buoyed by the continued rally in precious metals, while investors turned their attention to key economic data from the U.S. expected later in the day.

The March futures on the S&P/TSX index SXFcv1 were up 0.4% as of 06:38 a.m. ET.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's composite index .GSPTSE rose above 32,000 points on Monday as soaring precious metal prices continue to fuel investor optimism in the resource-heavy benchmark.

The TSX is poised to deliver its strongest annual performance since 2009, with the mining and gold sub-indexes having more than doubled this year.

Market participants will monitor the U.S. third-quarter gross domestic product data, which will be one of the final major economic reports of the year. Analysts polled by Reuters expect GDP likely increased at a 3.3% annualized rate last quarter, compared to 3.8% in the second quarter.

Mining stocks are expected to remain in the spotlight, as gold XAU= prices stood just shy of breaching the $4,500-per-ounce threshold with a weaker dollar and persistent geopolitical uncertainty boosting demand for the safe-haven metal. Silver XAG= also continued its rally to an all-time peak. GOL/

Copper CMCU3 prices also hit a record high, while oil prices LCOc1, CLc1 remained steady after rising more than 2% on Monday. O/R MET/L

Among other developments, Australia's Goodman Group GMG.AX has struck a $9.32 billion partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to build data centers across Europe.

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