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CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) dips on bleak revenue forecast

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Intel ( INTC ) drops after Trump's plans to kill chips subsidy law

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US service sector expands in February; price growth

accelerates

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Nasdaq Composite on track to confirm correction

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Indexes up: Dow +0.94%, S&P 500 +0.87%, Nasdaq 1.07%

(Updates to 2:05 PM ET)

By Johann M Cherian, Sukriti Gupta and Chibuike Oguh

March 5 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes gained in

choppy trading on Wednesday, as markets weighed probable easing

of trade tensions between the U.S. and its major trading

partners.

Stocks lost ground in early trade following mixed

economic data as investors also worried about a trade war the

day after President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on U.S.

imports of goods from Canada and Mexico.

The main indexes turned positive after a report said

Trump was considering a one-month delay of auto tariffs on

Canada and Mexico. Equities extended gains after a

White House announcement

confirmed that Trump agreed to delay tariffs on some

vehicles.

"We are on the tariff roller coaster," Wasif Latif,

chief investment officer at Sarmaya Partners in New Jersey. "The

economic data, the Fed, and all that stuff seems to have been

pushed to the background for now. It's just a reminder how these

policies have an impact in the long run and the markets are

reacting to it."

Stocks in materials, industrials,

consumer discretionary and communication services

were the main drivers among the 11 sectors on the

benchmark S&P 500. Energy and utilities were

the biggest losers.

At 2:02 p.m., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose

401.32 points, or 0.94%, to 42,922.31, the S&P 500 gained

50.16 points, or 0.87%, to 5,828.31 and the Nasdaq Composite

gained 194.02 points, or 1.07%, to 18,479.96.

An ISM report earlier on Wednesday showed an unexpected rise

in growth in the services sector in February. However, signs of

increased input prices tempered optimism.

Separately, ADP data showed private payrolls increased at

the slowest pace in seven months in February, ahead of Friday's

crucial payrolls report.

Investors have sold riskier equities over the past few weeks

on fears that Trump's trade policies would amplify inflation

pressures, slow the economy and eat into corporate profits, at a

time when multiple reports have suggested a cooling economy.

"The long-term trend that we were in, which is the rally

from the pandemic lows, has basically tapped out and on top of

that you put Trump, whose policies - whether it's tariffs,

deportations or the extension of the 2017 tax cut - are all

going to hurt the economy or cause inflation," said Bill

Strazzullo, chief market strategist at Bell Curve Trading in

Boston.

Carmaker stocks rose, with Ford up 4.8% and General

Motors ( GM ) up 6.2%. Tesla gained 1%.

Chipmaker Intel dropped 4% after Trump said on

Tuesday that lawmakers should get rid of a law offering

subsidies to the semiconductor industry.

CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) fell 6.5% after the cybersecurity firm

forecast first-quarter revenue slightly below estimates.

Huntington Ingalls rose 12.7% after Trump said his

administration will create an office of shipbuilding in the

White House and offer tax incentives.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.67-to-1 ratio

on the NYSE. There were 61 new highs and 131 new lows on the

NYSE.

The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and 8 new lows

while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 32 new highs and 148 new

lows.