US STOCKS-Wall St idle near record levels in Christmas Eve trade

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* Industrial stocks among biggest drags on S&P 500
* Uber gains as founder Kalanick resigns from board
* Markets to shut at 1 p.m. ET
* Indexes: Dow dips 0.07%, S&P and Nasdaq flat

(Updates comment, price action)
By Manas Mishra
Dec 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street hovered near record highs on
Tuesday ahead of Christmas break as investors paused after a
rally that was fueled by improving U.S.-China trade relations
and optimism about the health of the domestic economy.
The Nasdaq hit an all-time high, while the S&P 500 and the
Dow Industrials were just shy of the record closing highs from
Monday.
President Donald Trump further fanned hopes of a trade truce
over the weekend by saying the two sides would sign a Phase 1
deal "very shortly". "The mood's a little choppier today than in recent days, but
the recent rally has been pretty fast and furious," said Mark
Heppenstall at Penn Mutual Asset Management in Horsham,
Pennsylvania.
"The markets are probably just taking a bit of a breather."
The benchmark S&P 500 index is set for its best year since
2013, in sharp contrast to the same period last year when the
market was at the tail end of a severe swoon that saw the index
come close to confirming a bear market.
"There's a little bit of a panic buying in the markets,
which is the exact opposite of what was happening at this point
last year," said Heppenstall.
At 11:11 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 19.94 points, or 0.07%, at 28,531.59, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 0.36 points, or 0.01%, at 3,223.65. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 3.54 points, or 0.04%, at 8,949.19.
Volumes are expected to be thin this week as traders settle
in for the holidays. The main U.S. stock exchanges will close at
1 p.m. ET on Tuesday and remain shut on Wednesday.
Four of the 11 major S&P sectors were in the red, with
losses in industrials .SPLRCI shares weighing the most.
Among stocks, Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N edged higher
after the company said founder and former Chief Executive
Officer Travis Kalanick will resign from the board by the end of
the year. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.32-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 16 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 61 new highs and 21 new lows.