US stocks close higher ahead of Trump's 'kind' reciprocal tariffs

​​​​​​​By Mucahithan Avcioglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - US stocks closed higher Wednesday before US President Donald Trump announced his long-awaited reciprocal tariffs.

Trump called his plan "kind" as the rates will be half of other countries' tariff rates to the US.

“We will charge them approximately half of what they are and have been charging us,” said Trump in a news conference at the White House. “So, the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal.”

That figure includes “the combined rate of all their tariffs, non-monetary barriers and other forms of cheating,” he said.

Trump confirmed a 25% auto tariffs and said they will take effect Thursday.

Tesla shares rose 5.3% after reports suggested Trump informed his Cabinet that Elon Musk will be stepping down from his government advisory post in the coming months.

On the macroeconomic data side, factory orders in the US rose 0.6% month-on-month in February, exceeding expectations.

Private payrolls increased by 155,000 in March, also above estimates, according to data by the ADP Research Institute.

Following those developments, the S&P 500 jumped 0.67%, or 37.90 points, to close at 5,670.97.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.87%, or 151.16 points, to finish at 17,601.05 and the Dow climbed 0.56%, or 235.36 points, to 42,225.32.

The VIX Index, also known as the “fear index," dropped 1.19% to 21.51.

The dollar index also fell 0.27% to 103.98, while the US 10-year treasury yield declined to 4.125