U.S. stocks open lower on rate hike concerns

U.S. stocks opened lower on Friday as investors worried that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates sooner rather than later after the much-better-than-expected jobs report.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 280,000 in May, well above market consensus of 220,000, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.5 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Friday.

Job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care.

In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to 24.96 U.S. dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.3 percent.

Some analysts thought the latest figure did not put a June rate hike back on the table but that September was likely.

Greece remains in focus. On Thursday the country formally requested the International Monetary Fund to repay the loan installments due this June with a delay.

Athens had to repay a 300 million euros (about 332 million U.S. dollars) installment on June 5, the second on June 12, the third on June 16 and the final one for this month on June 19. The total sum amounted to 1.5 billion euros (1.66 billion dollars).

U.S. stocks suffered big losses on Thursday, as the intensification of Greek debt crisis weighed on Wall Street sentiment.

Shortly after the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 32.53 points, or 0.18 percent, to 17,873.05. The S&P 500 lost 4.11 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,091.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 9.98 points, or 0.20 percent, to 5,049.15. Endi