Nasdaq hits fresh record, Toshiba plunges

New York - The Nasdaq finished at a fresh record on Tuesday, boosted by strong US consumer data and a gain by Amazon, while the Dow again failed to cross 20 000 points.

Equity markets were mixed elsewhere, with a sharp fall in Toshiba shares pressuring the Nikkei in Tokyo.

In Europe, Frankfurt and Paris scraped out gains in thin trading while London remained shut over the Christmas holiday period.

The Nasdaq finished at 5487.44, up 0.5% from Friday's close and about four points above the prior record set December 20.

That came after the Conference Board rated US consumer confidence in December at its highest point since August 2001.

Tech giant Amazon jumped 1.4% after it characterized 2016 as its "best-ever" holiday season, with strong sales for its Echo and Echo Dot products and the widening popularity of its "Alexa" program.

Apple, eBay, Netflix and Tesla Motors all posted solid gains.

The Dow finished at 19 945.04, up 0.1%, but a bit shy again of the 20 000 points landmark investors have been awaiting.

The Dow has been within striking distance of the milestone since mid-December, but has yet to cross the line.

The Nikkei mustered a modest gain despite a 12-percent plunge in Toshiba shares on speculation it may book a multi-billion-dollar loss over a US subsidiary's 2015 acquisition of a nuclear power service company.

After trading closed, the Tokyo-based conglomerate confirmed that costs will possibly come to "several billion US dollars," related to the valuation of the purchase by its US subsidiary Westinghouse Electric of the nuclear construction and services business of Chicago Bridge & Iron.

"Westinghouse has found that the cost... will far surpass the original estimates" of $87m, Toshiba said, adding that will result "in (a) far lower asset value than originally determined."

US oil prices gained 88 cents to finish at $53.90 a barrel, its highest level of the year.

Analysts said investors are gaining confidence that an agreement by Opec oil producers to limit output will tighten the market.