* TSX up 39.61 points, or 0.25 percent, to 16,042.39
* Seven of the TSX's 10 main groups are up
* Shopify falls as much as 13 pct
TORONTO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index touched a third-straight record on Tuesday as gains in financials and drugmaker Valeant offset a sharp loss by Shopify Inc and a retreat by a slew of resource issues.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX) Inc VRX.TO was one of the more influential gainers, climbing 2.4 percent to C$14.98 after the company said it would cut its debt by an additional $125 million, exceeding its previously stated goal of cutting $5 billion in debt and ahead of its February 2018 schedule.
The overall healthcare group rallied 2.4 percent.
Financial services accounted for the bulk of the session's gains, adding 0.4 percent, but most individual names rose only moderately.
Canadian Western Bank CWB.TO advanced 6.4 percent to
C$36.91 after the company said it was acquiring ECN Capital Corp ECN.TO assets, and nearly half a dozen analysts raised their target price on the bank. ECN Capital Corp ECN.TO was up 6.4 percent at C$36.91.
At 10:53 a.m. ET (1453 GMT), the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE rose 41.29 points, or 0.26 percent, to 16,044.07. At one point, it eked out a fresh record, set the previous day, and touched 16,050.82.
Of the index's 10 main groups, seven advanced.
Shopify SHOP.TO tumbled 8.3 percent to C$128.56 despite posting strong earnings and turning an adjusted profit for the first time this quarter, as investors expressed disappointment the company did not do more to address concerns raised earlier this month by short-seller Andrew Left of Citron Research. L2N1N60KI
The technology sector lost 1.0 percent.
The materials group, home to precious and base metals miners, lost 0.4 percent and accounted for the bulk of the declines. Gold futures GCc1 fell 0.6 percent to $1,266.1 an ounce as the greenback rose and investors turned their focus to the announcement of who will be the next Federal Reserve chair. GOL/
Eldorado Gold ELD.TO slumped 8.1 percent to C$1.6, while a number of other miners, including Goldcorp Inc G.TO , Agnico Eagle Mines AEM.TO , and Wheaton Precious Metals Corp WPM.TO , all fell more than 1 percent.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the TSX by 137 to 105, for a 1.30-to-1 ratio on the upside.
The index was posting 12 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows.