Source: The Canadian Press

The Toronto stock market eked out a small advance Tuesday, failing to gain much headway from mixed earnings reports but getting lift from a sharp gain in the shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM).

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 21.1 points to 12, 684.68, while the TSX Venture Exchange added 7.54 points to 1,908.07.

The Canadian dollar was down 0.37 of a cent at 97.64 cents US as the American dollar rebounded somewhat against most major currencies.

The information technology sector led advances with RIM surging $3.28, or 6.2%, to $56.17 on top of a 5% run-up Monday that followed the launch of an Adobe software developer kit that can create applications for its PlayBook tablet.

Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies Group Inc., said in a note to clients that Monday’s demonstration put to rest worries that RIM would delay the product until the middle of next year.

Rogers Communications was another big market mover. Shares in the wireless, cable and media company (TSX:RCI.B) plunged $3.18, or 7.7%, to $38.13 as it reported that quarterly profit fell 24% to $370 million. The company said heightened competition in the overall market resulted in fewer net subscriber additions to its wireless services compared with last year.

“The cable business is still carrying that company and the wireless business is tough,” said Don Reed, president and CEO of Franklin, Templeton Investments Corp.

“You can see growth of the new subscriber base at Rogers has been a lot lower than it would have been a year ago,” Reed said.

Consumer staples provided lift for the market, up 1.26%, with grain handler Viterra (TSX:VT) ahead 13 cents at $9.88 and convenience store chain Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX:ATD.B) up 29 cents at $23.80.

The consumer discretionary group was also higher, with auto parts maker Linamar (TSX:LNR) up $1.26 at $20.93.

Gold stocks also moved higher even as the December bullion contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange edged 30 cents lower to US$1,338.60 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) climbed 32 cents to $47.79.

The energy sector was slightly higher with oil prices little changed. The December crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up three cents at US$82.55 a barrel. Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) gained 23 cents to $29.45.

The base metals sector was down 0.82% with December copper on the Nymex up a penny at US$3.87 a pound. Lundin Mining (TSX:LUN) dropped 13 cents to $6.77.

Metals miner Inmet Mining (TSX:IMN) third-quarter profit was up 40% to $86 million on strong earnings from operations as metal prices rise while gross sales were up 30% to $313.3 million. Still, its shares shed 89 cents to $61.65.

New York markets were positive amid some upbeat earnings and a better than expected reading on consumer confidence.

Ford Motor Co.’s third-quarter net income rose 68% to US$1.7 billion as it grabbed a bigger share of the U.S. auto market. Earnings were 43 cents US a share, beating analyst estimates by five cents.

Revenues fell 3% to US$29 billion. But excluding revenue from Volvo, which was sold, revenues rose. Ford shares turned around to gain 21 cents to US$14.36.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose slightly this month as worries about the job market continued to crimp the outlook of shoppers heading into the key holiday shopping season.

The Conference Board, a private research group, says that its Consumer Confidence index rose to 50.2 from a revised 48.6 in September. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting 49.2.

“High unemployment, foreclosures, deleveraging, all are making Americans feel as lousy as they did in previous recessions,” observed BMO Capital Markets senior economist Sal Guatieri.

“The only problem is: this one ended over a year ago,” Guatieri said.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.41 points to 11,169.46.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.44 points to 2,497.29 and the S&P 500 index inched up 0.02 of a point at 1,185.64.

In other earnings news, online brokerage TD Ameritrade (Nasdaq:AMTD) said profit fell 27% to US$114 million in its fiscal fourth quarter as trading activity slowed and revenue declined. The results came up short of Wall Street expectations, but TD Ameritrade also said it will initiate a dividend of five cents per share. Its shares added four cents to US$16.79 in New York.

TD Bank Financial Group (TSX:TD), which owns 40% of Ameritrade, said the brokerage would contribute $33 million to the Canadian bank’s fourth-quarter net income, within the wealth management segment. TD shares were down 54 cents at $74.23.

Investors also took in data showing that U.S. home prices continue to weaken, even in metro areas that were showing strength earlier in the year. The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 0.2% in August from July. Fifteen of the cities showed monthly price declines. Prices are expected to drop further in the coming months.