NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks traded higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 14,000 during intraday trading, a key psychological level, not attained since October 2007, as investors responded positively to mixed U.S. jobs data.
U.S. nonfarm payroll employment increased by 157,000 in January, yet lower than market estimates, but the unemployment rate added slightly to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in the prior month, according to data released Friday by U.S. Labor department.
The U.S. government department also reported that hiring over the past two years has been higher than it originally thought, sparking off an optimistic mood on the market.
Wall Street started Friday's trading on a strong note, following a best performing month since October 2011, with the Dow jumping 5.8 percent and Standard & Poor's 500-stock Index climbing 5 percent.
"U.S. stock market was now overbought but at the end of this year the stock indices would be higher than this time. And the equity market absolutely will set all-time highs in 2013," Benedict Willis,managing director of Albert Fried & Company, LLC, told Xinhua in an interview.
"U.S. stocks will move higher this year," said Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, Friday.
Shares of Exxon Mobil was nearly flat after the world's largest oil company reported before the opening bell that its earnings per share rose 12 percent compared with the year-ago period but its revenue slid 5.3 percent to 115.17 billion U.S. dollars.
Chevron shares rose about 1 percent after the No. 2 U.S. oil producer said the earnings per share in the fourth quarter surged 27 percent to 3.27 dollars, beating forecasts.
In mid-day trading, the Dow rallied 140.45 points, or 1.01 percent, to 14,001.03. The S&P 500 leapt 14.71 points, or 0.98 percent, to 1,512.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 33.87 points, or 1.08 percent, to 3,176.
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