US stocks traded higher yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising above 13,000 for the first time, on strong gain in core capital goods orders.

In the midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 62.49, to 13,016.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 7.48 to 1,487.89, and the Nasdaq composite index added 10.84 to 2,535.38.

New orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched guide to business investment plans, jumped 4.7 percent in March, the best showing since a 7.9 percent rise in September 2004. That was compared to a drop of 2.3 percent in February, the Commerce Department reported on Wednesday.

The strong gain in core capital goods orders should alleviate fears that business investment was on the cusp of spiraling downwards and contributing to a sharp near term slowdown in business investment and real GDP growth, said Global Insight US Economist Brian Bethune.