Canadian stocks advanced, heading for a seventh-straight monthly gain, as energy producers rallied after Exxon Mobil Corp.’s profit and Canada’s gross domestic product growth beat forecasts.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., the country’s second- largest energy company, gained 2.1 percent. Suncor Energy Inc., Canada’s biggest oil and gas producer, advanced 2.5 percent. Goldcorp Inc. fell 0.7 percent after gold futures fell in New York as signs of improving economic growth curbed demand for the metal as a protection of wealth.

The Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index rose 113.49 points, or 0.8 percent, to 13,551.07 at 12:17 p.m., for a 0.8 percent gain in January. The series of seven straight monthly gains would be the longest since September 2009.

“Corporate earnings are strong and economic conditions are getting better,” said Sadiq Adatia, who oversees C$12 billion ($12 billion) of assets as Toronto-based chief investment officer at Russell Investments Canada. “GDP numbers in Canada and the U.S. are looking pretty good for the year. Canadian companies have a lot of exposure to the U.S.”

The S&P/TSX had dropped less than 0.1 percent this month as gold declined 6.1 percent and oil retreated 2.2 percent through Jan. 28. Energy and raw-materials companies make up 49 percent of Canadian stocks by market value, according to Bloomberg data.

Of the 187 Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies to report profits since Jan 10, 139 have beaten analyst estimates, Bloomberg data show, while 12 of the 16 S&P/TSX companies to report have exceeded forecasts. Canada’s gross domestic product grew at the fastest pace in eight months in November, boosted by oil production, Statistics Canada said today.

Intraday Highs

Canadian Natural advanced 2.1 percent to C$43.99, after touching C$44.06, the highest intraday price since Jan. 6. Suncor rallied 2.5 percent to C$41.02 after hitting $41.14, the highest intraday price since October 2008.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest company, posted its biggest quarterly profit in more than two years as energy demand boosted oil and fuel prices.

“With oil you are seeing volatility depending on what conditions you hear about the global economy,” Adatia said. “It probably has an $85 to $95 target, and a lot of energy companies have not yet priced those in, so there’s a real upside to the market.”

Oil rose 2.1 percent to $91.22 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price two-thirds of the world’s oil supply rose above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on growing confidence in its usefulness for tracking the global recovery. Prices also increased last week amid concern protests in Egypt would spread to major oil-producing parts of the Middle East.

Farms, Mines

Commodities headed for the fifth straight monthly gain, the longest rally since March 2000, as farmers and mining companies struggle to keep pace with demand. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials extended a rally today to the highest level since October 2008.

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc. rose 2.4 percent to C$178.10, the highest intraday price since September 2008. Teck Resources Inc., Canada’s biggest base-metal producer, gained 3.6 to C59.93.

Grand Cache Coal Corp, which produces coal in Alberta, rose 5.1 percent to C$10.45, the second-biggest gain in the S&P/TSX. Denison Mines Co. gained 6.2 percent to C$3.59, the biggest gain in the benchmark.

Goldcorp fell 0.2 percent to C$40.79 as the precious metal slipped 0.9 percent, heading for its worst January since 1991.

To contact the reporter on this story; Jennifer A. Johnson in New York at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Baker at [email protected].