At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index advanced 437.80 points, or 1.44%, to 30,829.40. The S&P 500 index was up 21.28 points, or 0.57%, to 3,748.14. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index fell 78.17 points, or 0.61%, to 12,740.79.

US Democrats won one of the two seats in the Senate runoff elections and led in the other. Democrat victory in the two seats would mean that both Democrats and Republicans would each have 50 Senate seats with the Vice-President having the casting vote.

ECONOMIC NEWS: US Factory Orders Surge 1% In November-US factory orders surged up by 1% in November after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.3% in October, a report released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday showed. The report said durable goods orders advanced by 1% in November following a 1.8% spike in October, with orders for transportation equipment helping to lead the way higher. Orders for non-durable goods also increased by 1.1% in November after climbing by 0.8% in the previous month.

US Private Sector Employment Falls In December- US private sector employment fell by 123,000 jobs in December after jumping by a downwardly revised 304,000 jobs in November, payroll processor ADP reported on Wednesday. The report showed the service-providing sector lost 105,000 jobs, reflecting notable decreases in employment in leisure/hospitality and trade/transportation/utilities. Employment in the goods-producing sector also edged down by 18,000 jobs, as the manufacturing industry lost 21,000 jobs. The unexpected drop in private sector employment also reflected a notable decrease in employment at large businesses, which cut 147,000 jobs. Employment at small businesses also dipped by 13,000 jobs, while employment at mid-sized businesses rose by 37,000 jobs.

Fed Plans To Continue Bond Purchasing Until Substantial Further Progress -The minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting showed there was some discussion about weighting the central bank's purchases of Treasury securities toward longer maturities. A statement released after the mid-December meeting revealed the Fed plans to continue purchasing bonds at a rate of at least $120 billion per month until substantial further progress has been made toward its policy goals. The minutes revealed the meeting included conversations about how the Fed would determine whether substantial further progress had been made.

At the meeting, the Fed decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4%, which is where the target range has remained since an emergency rate cut in March. The accompanying statement reiterated that the Fed plans to keep rates at near-zero levels until labor market conditions have reached levels consistent with maximum employment and inflation has risen to 2% and is on track to moderately exceed 2% for some time.

The Fed said participants commented that the judgment would be broad, qualitative, and not based on specific numerical criteria or thresholds. Some participants drew attention to the importance of the Fed clearly communicating its assessment of actual and expected progress toward its longer-run goals well in advance of the time when it could be judged substantial enough to warrant a change in the pace of purchases.

Regarding the pace and composition of the asset purchases, the Fed said all participants agreed to continue the purchases at the current pace and nearly all favored the current composition. However, a couple of participants indicated that they were open to weighting purchases of Treasury securities toward longer maturities. The minutes said some participants noted that the Fed could increase the pace of purchases or weight purchases toward longer maturities in the future if the situation called for the adjustments. Looking ahead toward the potential end of the asset purchase program, a number of participants said the Fed should gradually taper its purchases.

COMMODITY NEWS: Global oil prices rose on Wednesday. Investors reacted to the US Senate runoff elections in Georgia and the decision by Saudi Arabia to trim oil production. Brent crude rose by US70 cents or 1.3% to US$54.30 a barrel. And the US Nymex rose by US70 cents or 1.4% to US$50.63 a barrel.

Base metal prices were mixed on the London Metals Exchange on Wednesday. Lead, tin and aluminium fell by up to 1.2% while other metals rose by up to 1.8%.

Among Indian ADR, Wipro added 3.23% to $6.07, Dr Reddys Labs added 0.15% to $72.19, and Vedanta rose 4.67% to $9.87. WNS Holdings added 0.96% to $71.30, ICICI Bank inclined 2.43% to $15.16, INFOSYS added 0.45% to $17.73, and Tata Motors jumped 0.3% to $13.34. HDFC Bank fell 1.06% to $70.78 and Azure Power Global fell grew 2.96% to $48.34.

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