US STOCKS-Festive Wall St set to stay near record levels on trade deal hopes

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* China says in close contact with Washington on trade pact
* Tesla gains as Wedbush hikes price target
* Holiday season online sales hit record high - report
* Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.19%

(Adds comment, updates price action)
By Manas Mishra
Dec 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set to open near
record highs on Thursday and the S&P 500 was on course for its
best year since 2013 on optimism over an imminent U.S.-China
trade deal.
Traders returned from the Christmas break to Beijing's
reaffirmation that it was in close contact with Washington about
the initial agreement, which is widely expected to be signed in
early January. President Donald Trump on Tuesday confirmed that the pact
would be formalized at a signing ceremony, but did not disclose
a date or location. "It looks like everybody had a good Christmas, and that is
slopping over into today's stock action," said Kim Forrest,
chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in
Pittsburgh.
Hopes of a breakthrough in the prolonged trade war, combined
with a loose monetary policy and robust domestic data, have
powered U.S. stocks to record highs in the past few weeks.
The S&P 500 is about one percentage point short of its best
year since 1997.
At 8:34 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 37 points, or
0.13%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 5.5 points, or 0.17% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 16.5 points, or 0.19%.
Trading volumes are expected to remain thin this week.
The recent gains have come as a relief to investors anxious
of a repetition of the volatility from December 2018, when
escalating trade tensions led to the worst December on Wall
Street since the Great Depression.
A Labor Department report on Thursday showed that the number
of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week,
indicating resilience in the labor market. Underlining relatively strong consumer confidence, a report
on Wednesday showed U.S. shoppers spent more online during the
holiday shopping season, with e-commerce sales hitting a record
high. Among the handful of corporate movers premarket, Tesla Inc
TSLA.O shares edged up 0.6% as Wedbush boosted its price
target on the electric-car maker's stock, partly on expectations
of strong U.S. demand for the Model 3 sedans.