4:25 pm : Stocks saw broad gains during today's session and the S&P 500 ended higher by 1.0%. Meanwhile, the Dow climbed 1.1% and settled above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007. The day was busy with economic data, most of which surprised to the upside. Overseas, China's HSBC manufacturing PMI signaled continued expansion while readings in Europe were better-than-feared.

Domestically, investors received a full slate of data with the headline report coming in the form of January nonfarm payrolls. During the first month of 2013, the economy added 157,000 nonfarm jobs, which fell short of the 180,000 expected by the Briefing.com consensus. In addition, the unemployment rate ticked up to 7.9%. The immediate reaction sent equity futures higher as the rise in unemployment signals the Federal Reserve will not be removing its support from the markets in the near future.

The morning sentiment was aided by a strong January ISM index, upbeat December construction spending, as well as the positive revision to the final January Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey.

All ten S&P 500 sectors ended in the black and five added at least 1.0%.

Financials rallied broadly and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 17.61, +0.23) notched a fresh 52-week high. Bank of America (BAC 11.71, +0.39) and Morgan Stanley (MS 23.51, +0.71) outperformed their peers and settled with respective gains of 3.5% and 3.1%.

Elsewhere, the materials sector rallied on the strength of steel producers. The industry tends to show elevated sensitivity to Chinese economic data, and today's manufacturing PMI beat suggested Chinese steel demand will remain strong. The Market