The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes wavered but ended Wednesday in positive territory ahead of an announcement on more tariffs from President Donald Trump at closing bell. After diving in the early going, Tesla switched gears and zoomed more than 5% higher on the stock market today on reports Chief Executive Elon Musk will end his controversial government work soon.
Stocks on the Dow Jones index fluctuated before ending the day 235 points higher for a gain of 0.6%. Amazon climbed 2% after reports said the e-commerce behemoth put in a bid for social media giant TikTok. TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, has until Saturday to sell the U.S. operations of the short form video app. But reports also noted that a deadline extension may be on the table.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq also added gains in the last hour of trading and finished 0.7% and 0.9% higher, respectively.
Volume was lower on the New York Stock Exchange and higher on the Nasdaq compared with the same time on Tuesday. Advancers outnumbered decliners by roughly 2-to-1 on both exchanges.
Small caps on the Russell 2000 held on to a 1.5% gain while similar action on the Innovator IBD 50 exchange traded fund helped the ETF moved 1.2% higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note was three basis points higher at 4.18%.
Futures Dive As Trump Tariffs Far Higher Than Expected
Trump Stocks Tumble
In stocks, Newsmax plummeted by more than 77% after a whopping 2,230% gain in its first two days of trading. The conservative Trump-favoring media stock debuted on Monday at 10 per share and finished trading Wednesday at 52.71.
Among other losers on Wednesday was Trump Media & Tech, which fell nearly 7%. Shares are in a downtrend.
On its fourth day of trading CoreWeave soared 19% higher. The Nvidia-backed stock debuted on Friday.
3:19 p.m. ET
Tariff Announcement Imminent
President Trump is expected to reveal his latest tariff plan at the market's close.
Uncertainty continued to roil markets as investors waited for what analysts expect will be one of three possible outcomes: reciprocal tariffs on select countries, a universal 20% tariff on all U.S. imports or tariff on a "subset of nations" that could be less than 20%.
Tariffs are already in place on steel and aluminum imports, with levies on automobiles also going into effect Thursday.
1:55 p.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Buffett Holding Climbs, Tesla Hits Reverse
In stocks, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding Chubb is near a buy point of 302.05 in an early stage base. Shares of Chubb are also near their all-time high of 304.34.
Tesla plunged after first-quarter deliveries missed estimates by a wide margin but switched and moved higher in afternoon trades. Shares surged more than 5%.
Unconfirmed reports said Musk could be leaving his post at the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Trump reportedly told his cabinet last week that Musk would be leaving in coming months.
At DOGE, Musk is responsible for rooting out governmental waste, but came under criticism for cutting too much. The Tesla chief also spent an estimated $25 million in a futile effort to elect a conservative to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
12:20 p.m. ET
Tesla Deliveries Come In Lower Than Expected
Earlier in the day, the electric-vehicle giant said it delivered 336,681 vehicles vs. analyst estimates of 377,592, based on company reports. Tesla deliveries were the lowest since the third quarter of 2022.
Among Tesla's rivals, Xpeng rose. But BYD, Li Auto and Nio fell. All four China EV makers reported strong deliveries in the first quarter.
These Retail Stocks Break Out
Elsewhere, two retail stocks broke out Wednesday. Ollie's Bargain Outlet emerged from a double-bottom base at what would normally be a buy point of 115.42. The relative strength line is at a new high, as seen on IBD MarketSurge. The retail stock was Tuesday's IBD Stock Of the Day and became the most recent addition to IBD Leaderboard.
Also in retail, Casey's General Stores attempted to get past an entry of 445.17. The relative strength line is also hitting a new high.
With the market in correction, however, investors should tread carefully and approach stocks entering buy zones with more caution than they would in a more prosperous climate.
10:53 a.m. ET
Stock Market Today: Payrolls Increase, Dow Stocks Move
In other economic news, Automatic Data Processing said private payrolls increased to 155,000 in March. Economists had estimated 120,000, up from 77,000 in February. More news on payrolls is expected Friday when the labor department plans to issue its jobs report for March. Estimates stand at 131,000.
Stock Market Today: Get The Latest News And Analysis
Most of the 30 components of the Dow started in negative territory but many moved into positive ground. Big gainers included Johnson & Johnson, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. Johnson & Johnson stock sought to recover from a steep sell-off Tuesday.
Nvidia fell along with other tech leaders amid tariff fears.
Earnings moved nCino, which plunged sharply. The company said fourth-quarter earnings declined 43% from the prior year to 12 cents per share on sales of $141.4 million.
The software company's outlook for the current quarter also missed views. At the midpoint, nCino forecast sales of $140 million and earnings of 16 cents per share. Analysts expected 17 cents in earnings per share on sales of $141.7 million.
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