Dow, S&P 500 pass milestones after strong jobs report

The S&P 500 index broke above 1,600 and the Dow briefly traded above 15,000 for the first time as stocks extended this year's rally

Stocks rallied on Friday, with the S&P 500 and Dow industrials hitting intra-day records, after employment grew more than expected in April, easing concerns about a weak US economy.

The S&P 500 index broke above 1,600 and the Dow briefly traded above 15,000 for the first time as stocks extended this year's rally.

Confirming the broad strength of the market's advance, the mid- and small-cap Russell 2000 stock index rose 2 per cent to a record.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 165,000 last month and the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 per cent, a four-year low, from 7.6 per cent, the US government said. In addition, hiring was much stronger than previously thought in February and March.

Investors welcomed the gains after weeks of disappointing data, including tepid manufacturing reports, that suggested the economic recovery was losing steam.

"The payrolls number gives the OK for the risk-on trade and this will be led by economically sensitive companies," said Dan Veru, chief investment officer at Palisade Capital Management in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 156.26 points or 1.05 per cent, to 14,987.84, the S&P 500 gained 18.88 points or 1.18 per cent, to 1,616.47 and the Nasdaq Composite added 44.77 points or 1.34 per cent, to 3,385.39.

Basic materials and industrials led the S&P advance, with the S&P materials index up more than 2 per cent.

Palisade's Veru said the current earnings season has been characterised by sluggish growth in revenues, so as organic growth by companies becomes harder, large-cap firms "will choose to buy growth".

"We would anticipate medium and small companies will see robust merger and acquisition activity as a result of that," Veru said.

Of the 404 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 68.3 per cent have beaten earnings expectations, but only 46.3 per cent have reported revenue above expectations.

Over the past four quarters, 67 per cent of companies beat on earnings and 52 per cent beat revenue estimates.

The S&P and Dow were on track to end the week about 1.8 per cent higher, while the Nasdaq added 3.2 per cent so far this week.

Mining stocks were among top gainers, including Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc, up 3.4 per cent at $31.38 after prices of copper posted the biggest daily gain in almost 1-1/2 years.

General Electric, up 1.3 per cent at $22.62, led gains among industrials after it won approval to buy oilfield pump maker Lufkin Industries for about $3 billion. The deal will allow GE to sharply increase its presence in the market to extract oil and natural gas from shale. LinkedIn Corp shares fell 10.7 per cent to $180.06 a day after the social network reported disappointing revenue forecasts.

In other economic reports on Friday, US factory orders fell sharply in March while the pace of growth in the vast US services sector eased in April to the slowest pace in nine months.