Updates to afternoon U.S. trading

By Sabrina Valle

NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 touched an intraday high on Wednesday and the Nasdaq turned positive in afternoon trading, lifted by gains in tech stocks and news of a trade agreement between the U.S. and Vietnam.

In light trading volume ahead of Friday's U.S. Fourth of July holiday, investors also bet that weaker payrolls data could prompt the Federal Reserve to consider interest rate cuts.

The S&P 500 .SPX gained 17.85 points, or 0.29%, to 6,215.86 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC gained 158.44 points, or 0.78%, to 20,361.33. The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 72.80 points, or 0.16%, to 44,422.14.

Investors have been watching whether President Donald Trump's administration continues to make progress on trade, said Michael Arone, chief investment strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.

"There is some relief in regards to progress on trade. The deal with Vietnam was welcomed news," Arone said.

The U.S. and Vietnam struck a trade agreement that sets 20% tariffs on many of the Southeast Asian country's exports.

The Trump administration has teased that a deal with India is also coming soon, but has said that others may not be ready by July 9.

Nasdaq rose in the afternoon, helped by Nvidia, Apple and Tesla. Investors looked ahead to the non-farm payrolls report for clues on how soon the Federal Reserve would lower borrowing costs.

Tesla TSLA.O rose 4.8%, even as the electric vehicle maker posted a big drop in second-quarter deliveries. Some traders said the numbers were less severe than analysts' bleak forecasts. The stock has shed more than 20% this year.

Nvidia NVDA.O rose 2.3%, while Apple AAPL.O added 1.8%, keeping technology shares in the lead.

Centene CNC.N tumbled about 40% and was set for its worst day on record, if losses hold, after the health insurer said it had withdrawn its 2025 earnings forecast after data showed a significant drop in expected revenue from its marketplace health insurance plans.

Markets opened lower after data showed U.S. private payrolls fell unexpectedly in June and job gains in the prior month were smaller than initially thought. Around 11 a.m., stocks began to trade up on news about the U.S.-Vietnam trade deal.

The focus is on the more comprehensive non-farm payrolls report on Thursday, a day earlier than usual, with markets closed on July 4 for Independence Day. The reading is expected to show U.S. job growth cooled in June and the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

"Investors are likely expecting this will push the Fed towards cutting rates sooner rather than later," Arone said.

Trump's massive tax-and-spending bill heads to the U.S. House of Representatives for possible final approval after the Senate passed the legislation, which nonpartisan analysts say will add $3.4 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.

(Reporting by Sabrina Valle in New York; Sruthi Shankar and Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath, Pooja Desai and David Gregorio)

((sabrina.valle@thomsonreuters.com))