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Employees work at a shoe factory in Lishui, Zhejiang province, in this Jan. 24, 2013 file photo. China grew at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis in the September quarter and risks missing its official target for the first time in 15 years, adding to concerns the world's second-largest economy is becoming a drag on global growth.LANG LANG/Reuters

The Toronto stock advanced for a fourth session Tuesday as traders focused on corporate earnings and data that shows Chinese economic growth slid to a five-year low in the latest quarter but was within expectations.

The S&P/TSX composite index climbed 108.4 points, or 0.76 per cent, to 14,446.12. The Canadian dollar was ahead 0.55 of a cent to 89.17 cents (U.S.).

U.S. indexes were also higher with the Dow Jones industrials ahead 70.99 points to 16,470.66, the Nasdaq climbed 47.95 points to 4,364.02 while the S&P 500 index rose 15.46 points to 1,919.47.

Canadian Pacific Railway said quarterly net income was up 23 per cent from a year ago to $400-million or $2.31 per share, missing estimates of $2.35 a share. CP also said that revenue came in at $1.67-billion, up nine per cent but missing estimates of $1.69-billion. Its shares dropped $6.15 or 2.77 per cent to $215.50 as the railway's operating ratio, a key efficiency metric, improved to a record low of 62.8.

After the markets closed Monday, Apple Inc. reported quarterly earnings of $8.47-billion or $1.42 a share, beating estimates by 12 cents. The maker of iPhones, iPads and other products posted revenue of $42.12-billion, exceeding forecasts of $39.96-billion. For the current quarter, Apple expects revenue in the range of $63.5-billion to $66.5-billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $64.44-billion. Apple share rose three per cent.

Commodity prices also advanced Tuesday even as China's economic growth slowed to 7.3 per cent last quarter. That is lower than the 7.5 per cent rate that had been targeted by Chinese leaders, who are trying to steer China toward growth based on domestic consumption instead of over-reliance on trade and investment.

But the number was broadly in line with expectations and higher than some estimates that had pegged growth at 7.2 per cent for the quarter.

Other data showed growth in industrial production was largely stable, with a rate of 8.5 per cent year-on-year in the first three quarters, down 0.3 point from the first half. Growth in consumer spending cooled to 11.6 per cent in September, the fourth monthly decline in a row.

"All in, a decent set of data and, like the other September releases, suggest that China's economy did stabilize in September after a weak August, and that the quarter as a whole didn't fare too badly at all," commented BMO Capital Markets senior economist Jennifer Lee.

Most TSX sectors advanced with energy stocks in the lead, up one per cent while November crude gained $1.10 to $83.81 (U.S.) a barrel.

The base metals sector rose 0.3 per cent as December copper was ahead four cents to $3.02 a pound.

The gold sector was also up 0.3 per cent while December gold rose $8.10 to $1,252.80 an ounce.

Meanwhile, McDonald's gave back 1.56 per cent as the world's biggest fast food chain reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $1.51 versus the $1.37 that analysts expected. But global same store sales fell 3.3 per cent, higher than the 2.8 per cent slide that had been forecast.

The TSX registered a third, straight triple-digit advance on Monday as traders snapped up stocks beaten down over the course of a market selloff that started last month. The selling pressure was ignited in part by worries about the state of the global economy and the impending end of a key stimulus measure by the Federal Reserve, the massive purchases of bonds.

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