But miniscule gains were still enough to close out the week at record closing highs for the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

President Trump cast doubt on whether there will be a rollback on existing tariffs against Chinese goods, saying he had not made a final decision - one day after officials said both sides agreed to do so if phase one of their trade deal is completed.

Despite the latest trade uncertainty, the long-term uptrend in stocks remains intact, says Peter Cardillo, he's chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

(SOUNDBITE)(English) PETER CARDILLO, CHIEF MARKET ECONOMIST, SPARTAN CAPITAL SECURITIES, SAYING:

"It's all about the fundamentals of the stock market, which remain quite healthy. We're coming out of the third-quarter earning season in a good way. Many companies have beat their expectations. Of course they were scaled back, nevertheless the outlook from Corporate America hasn't really changed that much."

That positive boost to investor sentiment continued Friday.

Walt Disney was the best performing stock in the Dow. Investors were pleased with the company's better-than-expected quarterly results and the number of distribution deals announced for Disney+, the streaming video service that goes live next week.

Booking Holdings, the parent of Priceline.com, instilled some much-needed confidence back into the online travel sector.

Results from peers suggested a change in Google search algorithm was hurting the flow of traffic. But Booking topped quarterly profit forecasts thanks to an increase in the number of hotel nights booked on its website.