The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 59.87 points, or 0.20 percent, to 29,883.79. The S&P 500 was up 6.56 points, or 0.18 percent, to 3,669.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 5.74 points, or 0.05 percent, to 12,349.37.
Six of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors advanced, with energy closing up 3.15 percent, outperforming others. Materials slipped 1.38 percent, the worst-performing group.
U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower, with seven of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday underscored the importance of bipartisan coronavirus relief talks in a joint statement, noting that the bipartisan aid proposal unveiled on Tuesday should be used as "basis for immediate bipartisan, bicameral negotiations."
The Democrats-controlled House of Representatives in early October passed a 2.2-trillion-dollar relief bill, but Senate Republicans have recently been pushing for a 500-billion-dollar package. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced an aid proposal worth about 908 billion dollars.
On the data front, U.S. private sector employment increased by 307,000 jobs last month, reported payroll data company Automatic Data Processing on Wednesday. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected 475,000 private jobs were added in November.
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