The S&P 500 was left out of the party in a day characterized by very small moves either way.

Nick Colas of DataTrek Research says the market looks good right here.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) NICK COLAS, CO-FOUNDER, DATATREK RESEARCH, SAYING:

"There is an old trading saying that says 'the market takes the stairs up but the escalator down,' which means that we get rallies that typically are a grind higher kind of rallies. That's what we are seeing right now. It's those crisis points, it's recessions, it's oil shocks that take us down dramatically but we're not seeing big gains and that's pretty emblematic of a typical rally. We're not in the same phase as we were in the late 90s, where we would see one percent days, 1-1/2 percent days because tech was driving that rally and tech is more volatile. This is much more steady-Eddie because we have that broader leadership like with the financials."

People familiar with the matter say China is trying to get the U.S. to relax tariffs as part of the so-called phase one trade deal, and there is a report Washington is considering it. The two sides maintain they plan to sign a pact sometime this month.

Another encouraging sign for investors: The mighty U.S. services sector is flexing its muscles. That part of the economy picked up speed in October, further soothing concerns the U.S. is headed for a slowdown.

Shares of Boeing rose for a third day in a row and was the biggest boost to the Dow.

According to Boeing's new chairman - embattled CEO Dennis Muilenberg "has done everything right" in response to two deadly crashes of the 737 MAX and questions surrounding the MCAS software at the center of the disasters. The comments were made on CNBC. Some lawmakers in Washington have called for Muilenberg to step down or be fired. No update on when the grounded plane will be allowed to fly again.

In other stock market action: Shake Shack had its worst day ever - plunging some 20 percent. The company issued a sales warning following a decision to switch solely to GrubHub for deliveries.

And Walgreens Boots Alliance has been talking to private equity firms about going private, Reuters has learned exclusively from sources familiar with the matter. Walgreens declined comment but the stock jumped on the report.