Former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said renewed optimism that the U.S. will reach a trade deal with China, ending months of costly tariffs, is helping drive stock markets to record highs seemingly on a daily basis.

“There's no question that the type of tariff structure that we have had and the customs that are flowing in has been a significant deterrent to economic activity,” Greenspan told Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.

If “the Chinese U.S. relationship, which is a major one by far, and the world, can come together so that there is a maximum amount of interaction and trade, the expectation is that the economies will rise faster and it's reflected in the stock prices," explained Greenspan.

U.S. stocks crawled higher on Tuesday, and all three major Wall Street indexes notched record levels, as upbeat comments by President Donald Trump on trade talks eclipsed some softer-than-anticipated economic data.

Fox Business Network said the Dow posted its 100th record close since Trump took office.

Trump said the United States and China were close to an agreement on the first phase of a deal, while stressing Washington’s support for protesters in Hong Kong, a point of contention between the world’s two largest economies.

“Right now the characterization is things are pretty good so we are kind of gaining on it, but until it is done, it is not done,” said Scott Ladner, chief investment officer at Horizon Investments in Charlotte, North Carolina. “So a holding pattern is probably, unfortunately, a very appropriate place for the market to be right about now.”

This report uses material from Reuters.