CANADA STOCKS-Mining shares lift TSX to record high

By Avinash P

Dec 19 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index notched a record intraday high on Friday, boosted by commodity-linked shares, while investors assessed data on domestic retail sales.

Toronto's S&P/TSX Composite index .GSPTSE hit a new intraday high of 31,783.64, beating the earlier record set last Friday. The index pared some gains and was last up 1.1% at 31,776.36 points by 10:23 a.m. ET.

The benchmark is on track for a second straight weekly gain, as it rebounded from a fall triggered by volatile oil prices and a Wall Street selloff earlier in the week.

Materials .GSPTTMT and gold .SPTTGD sub-indexes gained above 2% each on Friday, as prices of precious metals rose, with silver XAG= and copper CMCU3 hovering near the record levels.

Oil-linked energy .SPTTEN rose 1.1% as prices of Brent crude futures LCOc1 and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 gained.

Canada's retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.2% in October, even as recent inflation data showed signs of easing price pressures.

The Canadian economy has shown resilience amid trade tensions with the U.S, prompting the Bank of Canada to hold its policy rate steady in its December meeting.

"The question is do we see more interest rate cuts? And to me, I'm hopeful we will get cuts because I think it's important to stimulate our economy as much as possible," said Allan Small, senior investment advisor of the Allan Small Financial Group with iA Private Wealth.

Among share moves, BlackBerry BB.TO raised the lower end of its fiscal 2026 revenue forecast on strong demand for its cybersecurity software, while posting third-quarter revenue above analyst estimates. The shares, however, dipped 10%.

Lundin Mining LUN.TO said it planned to sell its Eagle nickel-copper mine and Humboldt Mill to Talon Metals TLO.TO in a deal worth about $84 million; shares of the miner edged up 2.2%.

Energy Fuels UUUU.A gained 5.2% after the miner's rare earth oxide qualified for magnet production.