*

Trump unveils 10% baseline tariff on all imports at key

speech

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S&P, Nasdaq futures reverse gains, portend big drops on

Thurs

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Indexes up before speech: Dow 0.56%, S&P 500 0.67%, Nasdaq

0.87%

(New throughout, adds Trump speech content and futures

reaction)

By David French

April 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes finished 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.

Trump began speaking after Wall Street closed, and both

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures reversed gains as investors

blanched at his sweeping tariff plans. S&P 500 futures were

1.6% lower as he spoke, with Nasdaq futures down 2.4%.

This suggested investors expect deep losses when Wall

Street opens on Thursday.

Trump's sweeping orders included imposing a 10% baseline

tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on some of

the country's biggest trading partners.

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, known as Wall Street's

fear gauge, has remained for the last three sessions around a

level last seen in mid-March. Trading in that index closes at

4:15.

Some tariffs, including on steel, aluminum and autos, had

already been announced, although Trump unveiled the specifics of

his tariff policy during a White House Rose Garden ceremony at 4

p.m. ET (2000 GMT).

"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."

Ahead of the speech, Wolfe said much of the markets'

response would depend on whether investors viewed it as a

measured economic policy shift or a string of seemingly

arbitrary tariffs that risk unintended consequences.

Before Trump began speaking, the Dow Jones Industrial

Average rose 235.36 points, or 0.56%, to close at

42,225.32, the S&P 500 gained 37.90 points, or 0.67%, to

5,670.97, and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 151.16

points, or 0.87%, to 17,601.05.

Big-tech names offered support to benchmarks on Wednesday.

Tesla jumped 5.3% after Politico reported that

Trump has told members of his Cabinet and other close contacts

that his billionaire ally Elon Musk, CEO of the electric vehicle

maker, will soon step back from his government role.

This helped reverse earlier declines triggered when Tesla

reported a 13% drop in first-quarter deliveries.

Its advance helped the consumer discretionary

index, which rose 2%, the best performing of the 11 S&P sectors.

Tesla fell during Trump's speech after the bell.

Among other Magnificent Seven names, Amazon.com ( AMZN )

closed 2% higher 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 have been 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 )

continued its recovery from a rocky first two trading days, with

the artificial intelligence startup building on the previous

session's gains with a 16.7% advance.

However, conservative news provider Newsmax ( NMAX ), which

had posted triple-digit percentage gains on its first two days,

retreated significantly, slumping 77.5% on the day.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 15.94 billion shares, compared

with the 15.86 billion average for the full session over the

last 20 trading days.