TORONTO (Bloomberg) — Canadian stocks rose to a record, extending a week-long rally after phone companies Telus Corp. and Rogers Communications Inc. reported earnings and gave forecasts that exceeded analysts’ estimates.Talisman Energy Inc. paced gains among oil and gas shares after billionaire investor Carl Icahn bought a small stake in the company and crude prices climbed above $59 a barrel.

Higher profits and forecasts at Telus and Rogers are “good news from the phone companies — we’ll see a continuation of strong results,” said Kate Warne, Canadian market strategist at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis. “The other thing helping the market is that oil’s up today unlike most of the rest of the week. Investors are also still reacting to a string of mergers.”

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index added 23.79, or 0.2 percent, to 13,311.95 in Toronto, its third record in as many days. The benchmark has risen 1.7 percent since February 9, notching its fifth weekly gain in six weeks.

Gains in the market yesterday were limited after a report showed housing starts in the US fell to the lowest in a decade, signalling growth in the world’s biggest economy is slowing. Industrial companies and gold producers declined.

Telus increased 80 cents, or 1.4 percent, to C$58.50. Canada’s second-biggest telephone company said fourth-quarter net income tripled to C$236.2 million or 69 cents a share, beating the 66-cent average of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Telus expects 2007 revenue to rise as much as 7 percent to C$9.28 billion. Earnings per share excluding some costs and gains will be as much as C$3.45 in the year, the company said, reiterating a December forecast. The average estimate for sales for that period is C$9.16 billion, with profit excluding some items of C$3.36 a share, according to Bloomberg.