Mumbai, Jan. 9 -- The Dow climbed 270.03 points (0.6%) to 49,266.11, bouncing back toward the record closing high set on Tuesday. The S&P 500 also crept up by 0.53 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 6,921.46 but the Nasdaq fell 104.26 points (0.4%) to 23,480.02.

Wall Street showed a mixed performance as traders held back from major moves ahead of the Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report due Friday. Economists expect December employment to rise by 60,000 after a gain of 64,000 in November, with the unemployment rate projected to edge down to 4.5% from 4.6%. The data is expected to influence expectations for the Federal Reserve's next policy decision later this month.

The Fed is widely expected to keep rates unc...