Gold issues helped boost Toronto stocks Wednesday. The S&P/TSX composite index rose 46.16 points to 7,231.34, closing higher for the fourth straight session.

The gold subgroup surged 4.07%, as bullion prices climbed higher. Agnico-Eagle was up 79¢ to $16.36, while Barrick Gold shares added 69¢ to $25.45.

Alcan shares rose $1.75 to $46 after Prudential Financial upgraded its rating on the stock to a “buy”.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index rose 5.52 points to 1,134.16.

In New York, stocks edged higher as investors mulled over a mixed bag of earnings reports.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the session with a gain of 35.79 points to 9,194.24. The S&P 500 rose 0.50 of a point to 988.61. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index climbed 13.05 points to 1,719.15.

The Canadian dollar closed up 0.93¢ to US71.54¢ after Canada’s composite leading index rose again in June, by 0.3%. The loonie was also helped by dovish comments by U.S. central banker Ben Bernanke that sent the U.S. greenback tumbling.

In a speech, U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke said policymakers would be prepared to cut interest rates all the way to zero if necessary to spur the U.S. economy.