By Karen Langley

U.S. stocks rose ahead of President Trump's Wednesday afternoon tariff announcement.

Major indexes opened lower before climbing into positive territory by late morning. Trump's Rose Garden announcement of what investors expected to be sweeping duties on goods from U.S. trading partners was scheduled for after markets closed.

Uncertainty about U.S. trade policy has injected volatility into recent trading. Investors have been eager for the administration to decide on a trade policy so they can begin to estimate how tariffs will affect businesses and the economy. Many hoped that clarity would help stabilize stocks, which have retreated from all-time highs.

"The market is craving certainty," said Mike Mullaney, director of global markets research at Boston Partners. "That's what the market needs right now, is some semblance of a plan. And we've had no semblance of a plan up until this point."

The S&P 500 gained 0.7% for the day, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, or about 235 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.9%.

Trump's trade fights have given stocks a rough start to the year, leaving the S&P 500 down 3.6% and the Nasdaq down 8.9% in 2025. Even after Wednesday's announcement, some investors expect the back-and-forth over trade to continue, as countries respond with their own measures and companies lobby for carve-outs -- or if Trump simply changes his mind.

"I don't think you can be 100% certain on anything that transpires today, " Mullaney said. "You don't know if he's going to wake up tomorrow morning on the wrong side of the bed."

With surveys showing that the mood among American businesses and consumers has deteriorated in recent months, investors are watching incoming economic data especially closely.

A monthly survey released Wednesday showed that U.S. private-sector hiring picked up. The ADP National Employment report said 155,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, up from 84,000 in February.

"Today's ADP number was higher than expected and lent some hope that hiring has continued to remain resilient, even in the face of tariff uncertainty," said Chris Senyek, chief investment strategist at Wolfe Research.

Most S&P 500 sectors ended the day higher, led by consumer discretionary stocks and then industrials and financials.

Tesla shares dropped in early trading after the company said its global vehicle deliveries fell 13% in the first quarter from a year ago. But they erased those losses to end the day up 5.3% after Politico reported that Trump had told his inner circle that Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk will step back in coming weeks from his role with the administration. Tesla shares are down 30% in 2025.

In bond markets, the yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 4.196%, according to Tradeweb, from 4.156% on Tuesday. That snapped a three-session streak of falling yields.

Gold rallied 0.7% to $3,139.90 per troy ounce, another record close for the perceived haven.

Write to Karen Langley at karen.langley@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 02, 2025 16:34 ET (20:34 GMT)

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