NEW YORK, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, after widely-expected minutes from the Federal Reserve's December meeting released in the afternoon.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 106.84 points, or 0.25 percent, to 42,635.2. The S&P 500 added 9.22 points, or 0.16 percent, to 5,918.25. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 10.80 points, or 0.06 percent, to 19,478.88.

Eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ended in green, with health and materials leading the gainers by adding 0.53 percent and 0.49 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, communication services and energy led the laggards by dropping 0.74 percent and 0.10 percent, respectively.

The Fed's interest rate trajectory remained a key focus. The Fed opted to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its final meeting of 2024 in December. The minutes from that meeting, released on Wednesday, revealed that many Fed officials supported a gradual pace of interest rate cuts in 2025.

"Many participants suggested that a variety of factors underlined the need for a careful approach to monetary policy decisions over coming quarters," the minutes read. "These factors included recent elevated inflation readings, the continuing strength of spending, reduced downside risks to the outlook for the labor market and economic activity, and increased upside risks to the outlook for inflation."

Meanwhile, data issued by Automatic Data Processing (ADP) on Wednesday morning showed 122,000 U.S. private payrolls were added in December, down from the 144,000 additions seen in November.

The latest reading of initial jobless claims from the Department of Labor showed 201,000 claims for unemployment benefits were filed in the week ending Jan. 4, a drop of 10,000 from the previous week and below the 215,000 expected by economists.

Reports on Wednesday morning that President-elect Donald Trump might declare a national economic emergency to impose tariffs added to investor anxiety. The combination of potential trade policy shifts and uncertainty over Fed actions has created a cautious environment for investors, with markets bracing for further clarity on economic direction and central bank decisions.

Despite the cautious tone, the minutes offered no major surprises for markets.

Fed Governor Chris Waller said Wednesday that he still supports cutting interest rates this year, believing inflation will continue to drift lower despite promises of sweeping tariffs from the new Trump administration. "I believe that inflation will continue to make progress toward our 2 percent goal over the medium term and that further reductions will be appropriate," Waller said. Enditem

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