US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq headed higher on optimism over Biden spending plan

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Walgreens rises after forecast raise
* U.S. private payrolls increase in March
* Three main indexes headed for quarterly gains
* Apple rises as UBS upgrades to 'buy'
* Futures: Dow flat, S&P up 0.17%, Nasdaq up 0.68%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
March 31 (Reuters) - Technology stocks lifted S&P 500 and
Nasdaq futures on Wednesday as investors awaited details on
President Joe Biden's massive infrastructure plan, while Wall
Street eyed its fourth straight quarterly gain.
The $3 trillion-$4 trillion package will target traditional
projects like roads and bridges alongside investments in the
electric vehicle market. The size and scale of the proposal as well as the question
of how it would be paid for is likely to set the stage for the
next partisan clash in Congress. Unprecedented stimulus and a swift vaccine rollout in the
United States helped the S&P 500 and the Dow hit record closing
highs last week.
Even though the Nasdaq 100 futures .RTYcv1 were higher in
premarket trading, the index .NDX is 7% off its all-time peak
as high-flying tech names have been hit by a surge in U.S.
10-year bond yields US10YT=RR .
"The infrastructure plan and the climbing yields just mean
that rotation from growth to value is going to continue ... over
next several weeks," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist
at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
At 08:33 a.m. EDT, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were down 2 points,
or 0.01% and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 6.75 points, or
0.17%.
Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 87.75 points, or 0.68%,
as Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 1.6% after brokerage UBS upgraded the
stock to "buy" on stable long-term demand for iPhones with
better authorized service providers. After leading Wall Street's rally from the coronavirus-lows
of last year, the Nasdaq's 1.2% gain has lagged the S&P 500 and
the Dow this quarter as investors swapped growth-oriented stocks
with undervalued shares deemed to benefit most from an economic
rebound.
Latest numbers showed U.S. private employers boosted hiring
in March as more Americans got vaccinated against COVID-19. The
report is in line with recent signs of improvement in the labor
market and comes ahead of the more comprehensive monthly jobs
report on Friday. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc WBA.O advanced 2.5% after
raising its 2021 profit forecast on higher sales at its U.S.
retail pharmacy stores. Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc JD.O rose 0.5% after
it sold JD Cloud and artificial intelligence business to its
financial technology unit for a combined valuation of 15.7
billion yuan ($2.40 billion). Chewy Inv CHWY.N jumped 11% as brokerages raised their
price target on the stock after the online pet product retailer
posted fourth quarter profit from year-ago loss.