US benchmark equity indexes closed higher Wednesday ahead of President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariff announcement, which came after markets closed.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% to finish at 17,601.1. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to 5,671, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.6% to 42,225.3. Barring consumer staples and communication services, all sectors logged gains, led by consumer discretionary.

Stock futures fell in after-hours trading as Trump announced sweeping new tariffs targeting imports from several countries including China and Japan.

He set duties of 34% on Chinese goods and 24% on Japanese items. The world's largest economy will charge 20% tariffs on European Union items coming into the country and 10% on UK goods. Varying levels of tariffs will be imposed on Vietnam, Taiwan and India, among other countries.

Trump said the US will impose 25% tariffs on all automobiles imported into the country, effective at midnight.

US Treasury yields moved lower Wednesday, with the two-year rate falling 2.1 basis points to 3.84% and the 10-year rate dropping 2.9 basis points to 4.13%.

In other economic news, 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," ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson said.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 0.7% to $71.71 a barrel Wednesday.

In company news, Tesla (TSLA) shares rallied 5.3%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500. Trump has told members of his inner circle that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk will be stepping down in the coming weeks from his roles within the administration, Politico reported.

Separately, Tesla posted sharp declines in first-quarter deliveries year over year and sequentially, missing the Street's estimates, as the electric vehicle maker faces demand weakness in its key markets.

Altria Group (MO) was the second-worst performer on the S&P 500 Wednesday, down 2.8%, as Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to hold from buy.

Gold rose 0.6% to $3,166.20 per troy ounce, while silver gained 1% to $34.65 per ounce.