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Wall Street hit all-time highs again on Thursday as U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said an initial U.S.-China trade deal would be signed in early January, adding to optimism that was fueled by a breakthrough in trade talks last week.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Mnuchin said the agreement had already been put down on paper, and that it was completely finished and just undergoing a technical "scrub."

The S&P 500 .SPX hit a sixth straight intraday record high, its longest streak since January 2018, riding a wave that began last week with hopes of a trade truce between the world's top two economies and expectations for a smoother Brexit.

The Dow Industrials .DJI and the Nasdaq .IXIC also hit record highs.

U.S. stocks will continue to have an upward bias until the start of 2020, when investors will look for more specific details in the trade agreement, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.

"Investors are essentially waiting to see what happens next, moving from a 'tell-me-something-good' environment to 'show-me-something-good'," Arone said.

Further boosting optimism around the strength of the U.S. economy and labor market, data on Thursday showed the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits dropping from more than a two-year high last week.

The market also shrugged off U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment, as the Republican-controlled Senate is widely expected to not convict and remove him from office.

Graphic: S&P 500 record highs - here(2).jpg

At 12:57 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was up 92.31 points, or 0.33%, at 28,331.59, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 10.00 points, or 0.31%, at 3,201.14 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 40.65 points, or 0.46%, at 8,868.39.

Conagra Brands (CAG.N) jumped 16.3%, on track for its best day ever, after the Slim Jim maker beat quarterly sales and profit estimates.

Conagra's results also lifted other packaged food makers and helped boost the consumer staples sector .SPLRCS 0.6%.