The Dow ended above 29,000 for the first time on Wednesday and the S&P 500 also closed at a record high after the United States and China signed a phase one trade agreement and pledged to resolve a tariff dispute that has roiled Wall Street for over a year.

The centerpiece of the truce is a pledge by China to purchase at least an additional 200 billion U.S. dollars worth of U.S. farm products and other goods and services over two years, over a baseline of 186 billion U.S. dollars in purchases in 2017. 

The trade agreement clears the way for investors to focus on upcoming quarterly earnings reports, including the outlooks companies provide in light of the deal. 

"There's no question from a psychological viewpoint it's a big relief for the market," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. "There are still CEOs that are dubious, but this might help capital investments, and that was the biggest missing link to the economy over the last few years."

Trump said he would remove all U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports as soon as the two countries complete a Phase 2 trade agreement, on which negotiations will start soon.

The three main stock indexes gave up earlier intraday record highs, with disappointing earnings reports from Bank of America pushing the S&P financial index .SPSY down 0.55 percent. 

Bank of America Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, but warned of weak net interest income in the first half of 2020, knocking its shares down 1.8 percent. 

Goldman Sachs Group Inc slipped 0.2 percent after reporting a bigger-than-expected fall in profit as it set aside more money to cover legal costs. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.31 percent to 29,030.22 points, ending above 29,000 for the first time.

The S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.19 percent to 3,289.3, its highest ever close. 

The Nasdaq Composite added 0.08 percent to 9,258.70, just short of its record high close set on Monday. 

UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, rose 2.8 percent as it affirmed its full-year outlook for 2020 adjusted earnings. The S&P healthcare index .SPXHC climbed 1.0 percent. 

Retailer Target Corp slumped 6.6 percent after it missed its own expectations for 2019 holiday season sales after reporting a drop in online growth and demand for toys and electronics.

Toymakers Mattel Inc and Hasbro Inc fell 4.6 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, while electronics seller Best Buy dropped 1.7 percent. 

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.35-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.31-to-1 ratio favored advancers. 

The S&P 500 posted 74 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 151 new highs and 20 new lows. 

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.3 billion shares, compared with an average of 7.0 billion shares over the last 20 trading days.