NEW YORK, May 3 (UPI) -- The Dow Jones industrial average, pushed by a positive U.S. employment report, topped 15,000 for the first time Friday.
The Standard & Poor's 500 also set a record, breaking the 1,600-point barrier.
The Dow added 171 points in midmorning trading, gaining 1.15 percent to surpass 15,000, then settled back to 14,973.96 by close of trading, up 0.96 on a gain of 142.38 points on the day.
The S&P index added 16.83 points, or 1.05 percent, to close at 1,614.42. The Nasdaq index added 38.01 points, or 1.14 percent, to 3,378.63.
On the New York Stock Exchange, 2,254 stocks advanced and 858 declined on a volume of 3.5 billion shares traded.
"A couple of months ago everybody was laughing at 1,600. But these [levels] are very important today, because of the individuals on the sidelines. It's new money coming in, which helps push up stocks and to some degree feeds on itself," senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt at S&P Dow Jones Indices told MarketWatch.
"It's more psychological, that 1,600 points. The same with the Dow at 15,000; they've never made landmarks together," Silverblatt said.
The 10-year treasury note dropped 1 1/32 to yield 1.74 percent.
The U.S. dollar rose to 99.03 yen from 97.95 yen.
The euro rose to $1.3117 from Thursday's $1.3064.
Gold was up slightly, adding $1.4 cents to $1,469 per troy ounce.
West Texas Intermediate crude oil closed higher, adding $1.47 to $95.46 per barrel.
In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.94 percent, 60.75 points, to 6,521.46.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, corn for July delivery lost 1 1/2 cents to $6.60 1/2 per bushel. Soybeans for July added 14 3/4 cents to $13.87. Wheat for July lost 6 1/2 cents to $7.22.
