Nikkei

Investors remained in a record-setting mood Tuesday, edging the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500 index to their latest all-time highs.

Unless something goes terribly wrong in the last weeks of 2013, this year will be remembered as a very good year for equities. The 23.4 percent the Dow Industrials made (all data as of Dec. 18) is above the long-term average of 15 percent and the index set a few record high marks along the way.