S&P 500, Dow at record highs as year-end rally continues

The S&P 500 and the Dow inched to fresh record highs on Friday, as hopes of an imminent U.S.-China trade deal and an improving global economy continued to fuel a year-end rally.

The benchmark index .SPX, which is about half a percentage point shy of logging its best year since 1997, has hit several records this month, on hopes of an imminent truce between the world’s two largest economies.

China and the United States announced a Phase 1 deal earlier this month, but have since disclosed few concrete details. Beijing said this week it was in close contact with Washington regarding the trade pact.

Wall Street’s main indexes pared gains after opening at record highs, with the Nasdaq .IXIC flitting between gains and losses.

“We’ve had such a long run so far that it now feels a bit overstretched,” said Katrina Lamb, head of investment strategy and research at MV Financial, in Bethesda, Maryland.

“These moves are expected in the absence of anything earth-shaking happening.”

Pointing to a resilient global economy, data on Friday showed profits at China’s industrial firms grew at the fastest pace in eight months in November, but broad weakness in the country’s domestic demand remains a risk for company earnings next year.

At 12:42 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 53.50 points, or 0.19%, at 28,674.89, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 1.68 points, or 0.05%, at 3,241.59. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 9.77 points, or 0.11%, at 9,012.62.

Shares of Amazon Inc (AMZN.O) rose 1%, after having risen about 4% on Thursday on a Mastercard report which showed U.S. shoppers spent more online during the holiday shopping season than in 2018.

Netflix Inc NLFX.O and Alphabet Inc (GOOG.O) were among the biggest drags on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq. The so-called FAANG group of stocks have logged a good run over the past decade, with Netflix shares topping the S&P 500 in the same period.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P index recorded 56 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 77 new highs and 18 new lows.