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U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, closing out March and the first quarter on a high note as investors rotated back into high-growth tech while weighing President Joe Biden’s big infrastructure spending plan.
The Dow Jones Industrials stumbled 85.41 points to 32,981.55.
The S&P 500 recovered 14.34 points, to 3,972.89.
The NASDAQ Composite recouped 201.48 points, or 1.5%, to 13,246.87, as the jump in bond yields eased. Apple, Microsoft and Facebook all gained at least 1.6%. Tesla popped more than 5%.
The Dow has advanced 6.6% and the S&P 500 is up 4.3%, month to date, on pace for their fourth positive month in five. For the quarter, the blue-chip Dow has added 7.8%, and the S&P 500 has risen 5.8%, on track for their fourth positive quarter in a row.
The NASDAQ was up 0.4% in March, running its winning streak to five month. For the quarter, it gained 2.8%.
Biden will unveil a more-than-$2-trillion package in infrastructure spending on Wednesday. The plan would raise the corporate tax rate to 28% to fund it, an administration official told reporters Tuesday night.
The White House said the tax hike, combined with measures designed to stop offshoring of profits, would fund the infrastructure plan within 15 years.
Private payrolls in March expanded at the fastest pace since September 2020 with companies adding 517,000 workers for the month, according to a report Wednesday from payroll processing firm ADP. It was a healthy spike from the 176,000 in February though just below the 525,000 Dow Jones estimate.
Investors await the key March jobs report on Friday to assess the state of the labor-market recovery. Economists expect 630,000 jobs were added in March, and the unemployment rate fell to 6% from 6.2%, according to Dow Jones.
The stock market will be closed for the Good Friday holiday.
Prices for 10-Year Treasurys sagged, raising yields to 1.74% from Tuesday’s 1.71%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices doffed $1.20 to $59.35 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $22.30 to $1,708.30.
