Wall St. idle near record levels in Christmas Eve trade

Wall Street hovered near record highs on Tuesday ahead of Christmas break as investors paused after a rally that was fueled by improving U.S.-China trade relations and optimism about the health of the domestic economy. The Nasdaq hit an all-time high, while the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials were just shy of the record closing highs from Monday. President Donald Trump further fanned hopes of a trade truce over the weekend by saying the two sides would sign a Phase 1 deal "very shortly". "The mood's a little choppier today than in recent days, but the recent rally has been pretty fast and furious," said Mark Heppenstall at Penn Mutual Asset Management in Horsham, Pennsylvania. "The markets are probably just taking a bit of a breather." The benchmark S&P 500 index is set for its best year since 2013, in sharp contrast to the same period last year when the market was at the tail end of a severe swoon that saw the index come close to confirming a bear market.