Royal Bank of Canada’s shares hit an all-time high of $161.50 Wednesday after reporting a third-quarter profit of $4.5 billion, beating analyst expectations for both net income and the amount it put aside to cover potential bad loans. Smaller rival National Bank’s shares also surged to a record high of $127.22, after it reported provisions for credit losses in line with analysts’ expectations and better-than-expected results in all business sections. (The Logic, Bloomberg)

Talking point: The two banks’ results diverge from those of the other three big Canadian banks that have reported so far. On Tuesday, both BMO and Scotiabank disclosed they set more money aside during the quarter to cover bad loans as high interest rates put strain on borrowers, flagging the provisions as drags on their profits. Last week, TD Bank announced it was increasing the amount it’s setting aside to cover possible penalties from a U.S. money-laundering probe to US$3 billion. CIBC will be the last of the Big Six banks to report Thursday morning.