Stock markets in Toronto and New York racked up some moderate gains Tuesday, as commodities softened and oil prices pulled back form a four-day rally.

The S&P/TSX composite index increased 30.63 points to 15,125.80, with advances in financial and consumer discretionary stocks offsetting losses from the gold and health-care sectors.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO), the last of Canada's five biggest banks to report, said its profits grew by 11 per cent in the fourth quarter to $1.35 billion. It also announced it was raising its dividend by two cents to 88 cents per share.

BMO shares rose nearly three per cent to $92.06. The positive report also helped lift the financials sector to lead advancers on the TSX, rising 0.73 per cent.

There were worries that a number of factors from low interest rates to the plummeting value of crude would negatively impact the balance sheets of the major Canadian banks.

But that didn't seem to be the case, with the five biggest lenders — including Royal Bank (RY.TO), TD Bank (TD.TO), Scotiabank (BNS.TO) and CIBC (CM.TO) — still managing to rake in $9.13 billion in profits during the fourth quarter.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 35.54 points to 19,251.78 to hit a new record, while the S&P 500 added 7.52 points at 2,212.23. The Nasdaq composite rose by 24.11 points at 5,333.

Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at Manulife Asset Management, said investors are still holding onto the optimism that resulted from Donald Trump's surprise victory as president-elect. Now they're likely taking a pause over the next few weeks to assess how realistic his campaign promises are and if they will actually come to fruition.

"We need further evidence that the U.S. economy is improving, that earnings will improve, and that the policies proposed by the Republicans will see the light of day," Petursson said.

"If we see corporate tax cuts out of the U.S., that will very positive. If we see the repatriation of foreign profits, that will be very positive. If we see fiscal spending, that will be very positive. But we are still months away from seeing what the initial proposal on each of these policies really look like."

In commodities, the January crude oil contract fell 86 cents to US$50.93 per barrel, as investors took a pause from gains following the announcement of an OPEC deal to cut output.

The February gold contract declined $6.40 to US$1,170.10 per ounce, while the January contract for natural gas dipped two cents at US$3.64 per mmBTU. The March copper contract also dropped, slipping two cents to US$2.68 per pound.

The Canadian dollar shed 0.04 of a cent at 75.28 cents US.