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 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 and mining sub-indexes rose almost

2% each, with both silver and copper 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 ( DLMAF )

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 led the selloff, dropping 2%

after Oracle's quarterly results and forecast

disappointed investors and revived concerns about an AI bubble.

Electronics equipment company Celestica ( CLS ) fell 3.8%,

while heavyweight Shopify ( SHOP ) and BlackBerry were

down 2.3% and 0.7%, respectively.

The energy index 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 fourth-quarter

revenue came in below analyst expectations, sending the

packaging firm's shares down 1.3%.