CANADA STOCKS-TSX falls as tech shares weigh; eyes on US-China trade talks

By Ragini Mathur

June 9 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, dragged by technology shares, as investors cautiously monitored a fresh round of U.S.-China trade talks aimed at easing tensions between the world's largest economies.

The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE was down 0.3% at 26,346.82 points, coming off its record high close on Friday.

All eyes are on the high-stakes talks in London, where top U.S. and Chinese officials are meeting to defuse tensions that recently expanded beyond tariffs to export controls over goods and components critical to global supply chains.

"I would say there is an undercurrent of caution," said Brian Madden, chief investment officer and portfolio manager at First Avenue Investment Counsel.

"There's lots of sort of arm waving about trade phone calls, but trade deals take a long time to negotiate, so I don't think anyone is expecting a miracle here in the short term between the U.S. and China".

The discussions follow a rare call last week between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Monday Canada's Liberal government will pour extra billions into its armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.

Jet maker Bombardier BBDb.TO and aviation simulation and training company CAE CAE.TO gained 2.7% and 0.8%, respectively. The broader industrial sector .GSPTTIN, however, fell 0.5%.

Information and technology .SPTTTK shares were leading the losses on the TSX, with enterprise software solutions provider Enghouse Systems ENGH.TO falling 2.4% as brokerage CIBC cut the price target on the stock.

Heavyweight materials sector .GSPTTMT was trading in green with 0.2% gains as gold and silver prices rose in the day.

Among other stocks, uranium supplier Cameco CCJ.N jumped 9.6% to the top of the benchmark index after a number of analysts raised the stock's price target.