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Trump's tariff announcement at 4:00 p.m. ET

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ADP, factory orders beat estimates

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Tesla turns higher after reports Musk to leave govt role

(Updates to close)

By David French

April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes closed higher

after a choppy trading session on Wednesday, falling early and

then rebounding as investors made last-minute bets to position

themselves ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping

tariff announcements due later in the day.

Volatility has gripped U.S. markets in recent weeks as

investors speculated about the scope of tariffs and their impact

on the global economy, inflation and corporate earnings.

The CBOE Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's

fear gauge, has remained for the last three sessions around a

level last seen in mid-March.

Some tariffs, including on steel, aluminum and autos, have

already been announced, although the main thrust of Trump's

tariff policy is set to be unveiled during a White House Rose

Garden ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. ET (2000 GMT).

Investors are watching for greater details on what

specifically will attract tariffs as well as for the process for

implementing them. Reports have indicated Trump was considering

a 20% universal tariff.

"Words from presidents matter," said Christopher Wolfe,

president and chief investment officer of Pennington Partners &

Co. "They can, and do, change policy and the way corporate

America responds to things. That's the weight we are all feeling

now."

Wolfe noted that much of the markets' response to

Trump's speech will depend on whether he outlines a measured

economic policy shift or a string of seemingly arbitrary tariffs

that risk unintended consequences.

"I do not expect, unless there is a one-way, we're just

going to blast at everybody (speech), I do not see the stock

market having a big over-reaction."

According to preliminary data, the S&P 500

gained 36.35 points, or 0.65%, to end at 5,669.42 points,

while the Nasdaq Composite gained 148.21 points, or

0.85%, to 17,598.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 228.36 points, or 0.54%, to 42,218.32.

Big-tech names offered support to benchmarks on Wednesday,

maintaining the previous session's upward momentum.

Tesla jumped, reversing early declines after

Politico reported that Trump has told members of his Cabinet and

other close contacts that his billionaire ally Elon Musk will

soon step back from his government role.

In early trade, Tesla fell as much as 6.4% after the EV

maker reported a 13% drop in first-quarter deliveries.

Its advance also helped the consumer discretionary

index, making it the best performing of the 11 S&P sectors.

Among other Magnificent Seven names, Amazon.com ( AMZN )

rose after it was reported the company was bidding for short

video platform TikTok.

On the data front, U.S. private payrolls growth accelerated

in March and new orders for U.S.-manufactured goods increased

solidly in February, likely as businesses front-loaded orders

ahead of tariffs.

Focus will now switch to the crucial monthly non-farm

payrolls data as well as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's

speech on Friday for insights into the health of the U.S.

economy and trajectory of interest rates.

Traders are betting on three rate cuts from the Fed this

year but the prospect of tariff-induced inflationary pressures

has clouded the outlook.

Among the newest public companies, CoreWeave ( CRWV )

continued its recovery from a rocky first two trading days, with

the artificial intelligence startup building on the previous

session's gains with a further advance.

However, conservative news provider Newsmax ( NMAX ), which

had posted triple-digit percentage gains on its first two days,

retreated significantly.