Stocks cheered by jobs; Financials up 1.5%

U.S. stocks traded higher after initially struggling for direction on Friday, as cheer over a strong jobs report was offset by increased potential for an earlier Fed interest rate hike.

"The stock market wants it every which way," said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at The Lindsey Group. "The bottom line is the data continues to pressure the Fed into raising rates."

Financials, a likely beneficiary of higher interest rates, rose more than 1 percent to lead gains on the S&P 500, which traded up marginally above the key 2,060 level.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs traded higher about 2 percent or more to lead blue chip gains.

The Labor Department said the United States created 257,000 jobs in January, beating estimates of about 230,000. More importantly, average hourly earnings grew by 0.5 percent, above estimates.

The unemployment rate rose to 5.7 percent, above estimates.

Futures turned higher on the news with Dow futures extending gains from 9 points to as much as more than 80 points. The U.S. 10-year Treasury note yield rose from about 1.80 percent to as high as 1.91 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded up 40 points, or 0.27 percent, at 17,934, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs leading and Visa the greatest blue chip laggard.

The S&P 500 traded up 7.19 points, or 0.35 percent, at 2,069, with financials leading seven sectors higher and utilities the greatest laggard.

The Nasdaq gained 15 points, or 0.32 percent, to 4,780.