U.S. stocks continued to drift higher in the fourth-to-last trading day of 2019, with the major benchmarks setting new intraday and closing highs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +1.33% rose 107 points, or 0.4% to close near 28,622, the S&P 500 SPX, +1.59% added about 17 points, or 0.5% to end the session at roughly 3,240 and the Nasdaq COMP, +2.26% gained 70 points, or 0.8% to about 9,023. The so-called Santa Claus rally, a term describing the abnormal stock-market gains during the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the next, appears to be in effect as stocks continue to hit new highs. Analysts have attributed positive sentiment to continued progress toward a phase-one U.S.-China trade deal, along with data from Mastercard Inc. MA, +1.08% showing brisk consumer spending during the final two months of the year. Shares of Amazon.com Inc. AMZN, +2.49% also rose 4.2% after it claimed the best holiday sales season ever, further fueling equity-market optimism.