US benchmark equity indexes ended higher Wednesday as the Trump administration made auto tariffs official and planned to announce reciprocal duties on trading partners.

* The implementation of 25% auto tariffs is expected to drive significant price increases leading to demand destruction of up to 3.2 million vehicles annually and a potential 15% to 20% reduction in vehicle sales, BofA Securities said.

* Employment growth in the US private sector topped Wall Street's projections for March, while pay gains decelerated, according to Automatic Data Processing (ADP) data.

* "Despite policy uncertainty and downbeat consumers, the bottom line is this: The March topline number was a good one for the economy and employers of all sizes, if not necessarily all sectors," said Nela Richardson, ADP chief economist

* May West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed up $0.61 to settle at $71.81 a barrel, while June Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up $0.54 to $75.03 despite a report showing a jump in US inventories last week.

* Tesla (TSLA) shares rose 5.3%. President Donald Trump has told members of his inner circle that Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk will be stepping down in the coming weeks from his roles within the administration, Politico reported.

* Waton Financial (WTF) raised about $20.1 million after closing its initial public offering and the exercise of overallotment option. The shares tumbled 65%.