Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Canadian stocks rose for a fifth day, the longest stretch of gains since August, as gold mining companies and the nation's largest lenders advanced.
The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 35.58 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 14,745.38 at 10:57 a.m. in Toronto. The index has increased 2.5 per cent in the past five days.
U.S. stocks were little changed on Tuesday after the Dow and S&P 500 managed to touch fresh intraday records for a fifth straight session in early trading.
On Monday, the benchmark S&P index had set its 39th new closing high for the year, versus 45 in 2013. The last time the index closed at a record high in four consecutive days was in June, while its last five-day streak was in May 2013.
The benchmark has rallied more than 9 per cent from a six-month low in October, buoyed by supportive economic data and solid corporate earnings reports. For the year, the index is up over 10 per cent.
"At a time when the bulk of earnings season is behind us, the kind of calm market we are seeing this week is to be expected," said David Lebovitz, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Funds in New York.
"That being said, we have come pretty far, pretty fast. I wouldn't be surprised to see the market consolidate a little, in the form of hovering around here or pulling back a little bit."
Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning showed that of 449 companies in the S&P 500 to report earnings, 74.6 per cent beat expectations, above the 63 per cent beat rate since 1994 and 67 per cent for the past four quarters. Earnings overall are expected to grow 10 per cent over the year-ago period.
The S&P 500 was down 0.52 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 2,037.74, the Dow Jones Industrials down 9.50 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 17,604.24 and the Nasdaq up 0.38 points, or 0.01 per cent, to 4,651.99.
Semafo climbed 7.8 per cent to $3.03 and AuRico Gold increased 8 per cent to $3.93 as raw-materials shares advanced 0.6 per cent as a group. Seven of 10 industries in the S&P/TSX increased on trading volume 22 per cent lower than the 30-day average at this time of the day.
Rona rose 2.1 per cent to $13.94 after disclosing a plan to buy back as much as 10 per cent of its shares and to open new stores next year. The company also posted third-quarter earnings short of analysts' estimates.
National Bank of Canada increased 0.9 per cent to $54.47, headed for a record close, as the S&P/TSX Financials index rallied to a seven-week high.
Vicwest jumped 19 per cent to $12.70, the biggest gain since 2011. The company will sell its shares to Kingspan Group for $12.70 each and its Westeel grain storage assets to Ag Growth. Ag Growth lost 1.1 per cent to $47.50.
Penn West Petroleum Ltd. lost 1 per cent to $4.67 and Imperial Oil Ltd. fell 1.2 per cent to $53.48. Brent oil touched a four-year low amid signs OPEC is resisting calls to cut output. Saudi Arabia last week instead reduced export prices to the U.S., where production is running at the highest level in more than 30 years.