The Christmas rally on Wall Street has fizzled out despite the US and China edging closer to the formal signing of an initial trade deal as soon as next week.
The South China Morning Post reported that Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He will arrive in Washington this week to sign the trade agreement.
White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said a trade pact was likely to be signed next week.
But he said confirmation would come from US President Donald Trump.
Mr Navarro said the 86-page agreement was still being translated and included clauses on protection of intellectual property, forced technology transfers and currency manipulation.
"Basically you need to get it translated into the Chinese and double checked so both versions match," he told Fox News.
These are key issues for the US, which led Mr Trump to impose tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese imports and which saw Beijing retaliate.
In economic news, the US trade deficit narrowed to the lowest since 2016 in November.
The gap between imports and exports dropped by $US3.6 billion to $US63.2 billion.
Imports fell but exports rose.
US stocks fell from record highs on the second last trading day of the year.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.6 per cent, or 183 points, to 28,462.
In economic news, the US trade deficit narrowed to the lowest since 2016 in November.
The gap between imports and exports dropped by $US3.6 billion to $US63.2 billion.
Imports fell but exports rose.
US stocks fell from record highs on the second last trading day of the year.
The Dow Jones index lost 0.6 per cent, or 183 points, to 28,462.
By: abc.net.au
