Wall Street staged a mild retreat today, quietly closing a year that will be remembered for the stock market’s great comeback – a year-end rally that pushed the Dow Jones industrials past 12,000 for the first time.

The Dow Jones industrial average reached another record close today as investors largely looked past economic and earnings reports that had stirred concerns about the health of the US economy.

US stocks ended a quiet session today with a moderate gain on strong earnings news and a decline in the trade deficit.