S&P 500 flirts with fresh record high, but chip-led softness weighs
Investing.com -- The S&P 500 climbed Wednesday, just ahead of President Donald Trump is set to roll out of reciprocal tariffs.
At 4:00 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 235 points, or 0.6%, the S&P 500 index rose 0.6%, and the NASDAQ Composite added 0.9%.
Trump tariffs loom large
President Trump will implement reciprocal tariffs on a wide range of trading partners starting April 2, with the measures set to take effect immediately.
Trump is expected to announce the details of the administration’s reciprocal tariffs at 4:00 p.m. ET, having made tariffs a centerpiece of his second term in office, arguing that these moves are necessary to correct trade imbalances, lift government revenues, and reshore lost manufacturing jobs.
However, uncertainty over the specific scope and retaliatory measures from affected nations has kept investors on edge.
"Our economists expect the proposals to be more of a starting point, focusing on the 15-20 or so key trade partners (75% of imports), or the slightly broader group highlighted by the USTR in the Federal Register (comprising 88% of trade)," said analysts at UBS, in a note.
"Ultimately their base expectation is that the US ends up imposing an average 15% tariff on its 15 largest trade partners, along with a 25% tariff on China and special categories like autos, steel and aluminum. That would imply $600-650bn worth of tariffs, roughly a 5 times larger tariff increase than in 2018-2019."
ADP employment data shows growth
While the uncertainty around tariffs has clouded the U.S. economic outlook, the labor market continued show strength ahead of Friday’s non-farm payrolls report for March.
The ADP National Employment Report showed on Wednesday that private payrolls increased by 155,000 jobs last month after an upwardly revised 84,000 rise in February.
This contrasted with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report for February, released on Tuesday, which revealed a slight decline in job openings, suggesting a gradual cooling in the labor market amid rising economic uncertainties.
Tesla cuts losses as reports of Musk existing DOGE role offsets weaker deliveries
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock cut losses to trade over 5% higher on reports that CEO Elon Musk could leave his role as head of Department of Government Efficiency to focus on his efforts on the EV maker, Politico reported, citing unnamed sources. The news arrived just hours after the EV manufacturer reporting first-quarter vehicle deliveries that came in well below expectations.In a social media post, Musk dismissed the report as fake news.
The electric vehicle maker delivered 336,681 vehicles in the first quarter of 2025, missing the Bloomberg print forecast of 390,000. Production totaled 362,615 units for the quarter.
Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) stock fell 6% after the EV maker also reported a sharp decline in first-quarter deliveries, as it grapples with soft demand.
Ncino (NASDAQ:NCNO), meanwhile, plunged 20% after reporting soft guidance following fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of Wall Street estimates.
CoreWeave Inc (NASDAQ:CRWV) added to its gains from a day earlier, rising more than 16% on reports that Google is advanced to talks to rent Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) AI services from CoreWeave.
(Peter Nurse and Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article.)