Stocks surge to record highs, kicking off Christmas week

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite opened in record territory Monday morning as stocks kicked off their final full week of trading for 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was just below its own record peak. The early gains have the Nasdaq Composite on track for an eighth straight close at record highs, which would be the longest stretch since July 20, 1998. Concerns over the possibility of a North Korean missile test were contained by signs of further progress in cooling trade tensions between Washington and Beijing as China announced plans to further open its financial markets to private business. The Ministry of Finance announced on Monday tariff cuts effective Jan. 1 on frozen pork, asthma and diabetes medications, integrated circuit boards and some 850 other products.