U.S. stocks narrowly mixed at midday amid strong jobs data

U.S. stocks reversed early losses to trade mixed around midday on Friday, as investors were assessing impacts of the much-better-than-expected jobs report.

At noon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 30.50 points, or 0.17 percent, to 17,875.08. The S&P 500 edged down 0.82 point, or 0.04 percent, to 2,095.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 4.94 points, or 0.10 percent, to 5,064.07.

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.

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.

"Hiring faltered in Q1, but it is recovering now, supporting the case for a Q2 economic rebound and Fed tightening this year. There are still pockets of weakness, especially in goods producing industries, but the economy is creating plenty of service jobs," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

"Job quality might still be an issue, but rising participation is a good sign, as is faster growth in hourly pay," he added.

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

Meanwhile, 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. Endite