Earnings Keep on Rising, So Why Aren't Canadian Stocks?: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- Companies on Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index are forecast to report earnings growth of more than 20 percent in the first quarter, but try telling that to stocks. The benchmark has been a chronic underperformer, even as earnings are expected to outpace members of the S&P 500 Index for the seventh quarter in a row. Strategists say investors are distracted by worries about Nafta, weak Canadian crude prices, high consumer-debt levels and tighter mortgage-lending rules.

--With assistance from Wendy Soong

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