TORONTO (Bloomberg) - Canadian stocks rose for a fourth straight day, led by base-metals mining companies, after Alcoa Inc. posted an unexpected profit and said demand for aluminum is improving.

Teck Resources Ltd., Canada's largest base-metals producer, gained 6.9 percent as prices for aluminum, copper, lead and zinc climbed. Yamana Gold Inc. advanced as the US dollar extended its decline, lifting bullion to a record for a third straight day. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. led a rally in energy companies as crude oil and natural gas prices increased.

"Alcoa's always the first to start off the earnings season," said Jeff Bradacs, senior investment analyst on a team that manages about C$750 million ($710.4 million) for MFC Global Investment Management in Toronto. "They see stabilizing in North America and growth within Asia, that's helping to drive commodity prices and our stocks higher in Canada."

The Standard & Poor's/TSX Composite Index rose 134.63 points, or 1.2 percent, to 11,484.51. The benchmark for Canadian equities is heading for its biggest weekly advance since July, having gained 4.8 percent in four days. It has gained more than 100 points for four straight days for the first time since January.

Alcoa, the largest US aluminum producer, reported its first profit in a year. The company benefited from price increases and cost cuts.

Raw-materials stocks, which make up 19 percent of the S&P/ TSX by market value, have helped propel the index to a 28 percent gain this year, compared with an 18 percent advance for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Copper has doubled and gold has increased 20 percent this year on the dollar's decline and speculation the global economy is emerging from recession.

Teck rose 6.9 percent to C$32.41, the highest in more than a year. HudBay Minerals Inc., a producer of zinc and copper, surged 6.6 percent to C$14.60. Equinox Minerals Ltd., which mines copper in Africa, jumped 8.6 percent to C$3.68.

Gold futures, which rose $11.90 to close at $1,056.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex division, will advance to $1,150 an ounce by the end of the year, according to the median estimate in a survey of six analysts and investors at a commodities conference in London on Wednesday.

Yamana Gold, which produces the metal in South America, added 5.3 percent to C$12.88. Analysts at Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal and Paradigm Capital Inc. raised their ratings on the shares to "buy" or an equivalent. Kinross Gold Corp., Canada's third-largest gold producer, rose for a fourth day, rallying 0.7 percent to C$24.09.

Crude oil surged three percent to $71.69 a barrel in New York as the falling US dollar bolstered the appeal of commodities as an alternative investment. Canadian Oil Sands Trust increased five percent to an 11-month high of C$32.60. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country's second-largest gas producer, gained 3.1 percent to C$72.89 on a 1.2 percent advance in natural-gas futures.

Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., Canada's fourth-largest telecommunications company, declined for a fourth day, losing 2.8 percent to C$32.05. The Winnipeg-based company reduced its forecasts for 2009 revenue, citing the recession's impact on sales to large companies.

Livingston International Income Fund, a component of the S&P/TSX Smallcap Index, soared 21 percent to C$8.09 after agreeing to be purchased by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Sterling Partners. Unitholders of Livingston, Canada's largest customs broker, would receive C$8 a unit or C$273 million collectively.