Stock benchmarks trade mixed but were mostly edging higher Tuesday morning, with the S&P 500 on track for a record close—its 70th of 2021—as investors look toward 2022 with optimism, despite record COVID-19 cases, aided by the spread of the omicron variant. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.16% was trading up less than 0.1% but that gain was enough to help it carve out an intraday record high at 4,797.77, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.45% was climbing 0.4% at 36,432. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.01% was trading 0.2% lower at 15,850. In a light week for economic data, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city price index posted a 18.4% year-over-year gain in October, down from 19.1% the previous month.