S&P 500 posts biggest weekly percent gain after China-US phone talks

US stocks hit record closing highs again on Friday as the S&P 500 registered its biggest weekly percentage gain since early September after Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed the phase one trade deal in a phone call Friday.

The S&P 500 hit a seventh straight intraday all-time high, its longest streak of intraday highs since October 2017, while the Nasdaq ended with gains for an eighth session in a row.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 78.13 points, or 0.28 percent, to 28,455.09, the S&P 500 gained 15.85 points, or 0.49 percent, to 3,221.22 and the Nasdaq Composite added 37.74 points, or 0.42 percent, to 8,924.96.

The S&P 500 rose for a fourth straight week, gaining 1.7 percent for the week, its biggest weekly gain since early September.

A rise in consumer spending also caught investors' eyes. Data showed that US consumer spending increased 0.4 percent, adding to a string of upbeat data that have helped ease recession fears, which dogged markets earlier this year.

Early Santa Claus rally?

With six trading days remaining until the end of 2019, the S&P 500 is still 25 points away from breaking the 29.5 percent gain record in 2013. In 1997, the S&P 500 rose 31 percent.

The S&P 500 has already risen 28.5 percent this year, while the Dow and Nasdaq rose 22 percent and 34.5 percent respectively.

Since 1950, the S&P 500 has gained 1.3 percent on average in the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the following year, giving it the "Santa Claus rally" moniker. In 2018, the S&P 500 rose 4.1 percent in that time period.

Phase one trade deal in progress

During the phone call between the two countries' leaders on Friday, Xi and Trump discussed matters from trade to political affairs.

Xi stressed the phase one economic and trade deal between China and the United States benefits both sides and the whole world, and noted that the two countries reached the phase one agreement on the basis of the principle of equality and mutual respect.

In response, Trump said he is looking forward to maintaining regular communication with Xi by various means, adding he is confident that both countries can properly handle differences, and US-China relations can maintain a smooth development.