The 2019 holiday season has definitely brought in much to cheer for Wall Street with stock market indices closing at record highs, excited at the prospect of the US and China signing the phase one trade deal shortly. On Thursday, Nasdaq closed above the 9,000 level for the first time.

US equities were also buoyed by recent reports of record high online sales expected this holiday season, which helped shares of online retailers like Amazon post significant gain this week. According to a report by Mastercard, e-commerce sales were expected to hit record highs in 2019 after an increase in online shopping in 2019 vs. 2018, which helped Amazon shares soar 4.4% higher on Thursday.

Stock markets in the US also gained following the release of a stronger than expected consumer spending report for November, while unemployment claims also beat economists’ forecast. The DOW gained around 0.37% while SPX closed 0.51% higher the day after Christmas.