CANADA STOCKS-TSX ticks up as mining gains outweigh tech selloff

By Avinash P

Dec 11 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ticked higher on Thursday, as gains in mining shares outweighed a tech selloff sparked by renewed fears about lofty valuations.

Toronto's benchmark index .GSPTSE hit a new intraday record high, and was up 0.3% at 31,545.96 points by 10:10 a.m. ET (1510 GMT).

Gold .SPTTGD and mining .GSPTTMT sub-indexes rose almost 2% each, with both silver XAG= and copper CMCU3 prices hitting record highs.

"We're seeing continued strength in gold and metals. Those commodities tend to be quite buoyed and close to all-time highs. Meanwhile, energy is really selling off," said Robert Gill, portfolio manager at Fairbank Investment Management.

"It's this time of year that portfolio managers begin to ... reposition their portfolios so that could lead to some sector rotation or the closing of underperforming positions."

Consumer discretionary stocks rose 0.6%; shares of Dollarama DOL.TO gained 2.3% after the discount store raised its annual sales forecast, betting on resilient demand for cheaper household supplies and groceries amid still high inflation.

Technology stocks .SPTTK led the selloff, dropping 2% after Oracle's ORCL.N quarterly results and forecast disappointed investors and revived concerns about an AI bubble.

Electronics equipment company Celestica CLS.TO fell 3.8%, while heavyweight Shopify SHOP.TO and BlackBerry BB.TO were down 2.3% and 0.7%, respectively.

The energy index .GSPTTIN fell 1%.

Domestic data showed a small monthly international trade surplus in September, reversing a trend of seven consecutive months of deficits and Canada's first surplus since President Donald Trump threatened and later imposed tariffs.

On Wednesday, the Bank of Canada held rates at 2.25% while the Fed lowered its benchmark funds rate by 25 basis points. Heightened expectations of the BoC hiking interest rates in 2026, after Friday's stronger-than-expected jobs data, dialed down following the rate decision.

In other moves, Transcontinental's TCLa.TO fourth-quarter revenue came in below analyst expectations, sending the packaging firm's shares down 1.3%.

(Reporting by Avinash P and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

((Avinash.p@thomsonreuters.com))