US STOCKS-Wall Street closes up, rebounds in choppy trade ahead of Trump tariff plan

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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 .VIX, 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 .SPX gained 36.35 points, or 0.65%, to end at 5,669.42 points, while the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 148.21 points, or 0.85%, to 17,598.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI 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 TSLA.O 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 .SPLRCD index, making it the best performing of the 11 S&P sectors.

Among other Magnificent Seven names, Amazon.com AMZN.O 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.O 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.N, which had posted triple-digit percentage gains on its first two days, retreated significantly.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru and David French in New York; Editing by Anil D'Silva, Maju Samuel and David Gregorio)

((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2787;))