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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mixed amid strong jobs data, Greece concerns

Xinhua, June 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Friday, as investors were assessing impacts of the much better-than- expected jobs report amid Greek debt crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 56.12 points, or 0. 31 percent, to 17,849.46. The S&P 500 inched down 3.01 points, or 0.14 percent, to 2,092.83. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 9.33 points, or 0.18 percent, to 5,068.46.

The U.S. job market continued its steady growth momentum in May, triggering market debate over the timing for the Federal Reserve's first interest rate hike in almost nine years.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment added 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.

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

Overseas, Greece remains in focus. In a first for Greece and a developed country, Athens failed to repay on Friday a 300-million- euro (333 million U.S. dollars) loan installment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

On Thursday, the Central Bank of Greece formally made a request to IMF to "bundle" its four payments due to IMF this June amounting to approximately 1.5 billion euros into one. On-going negotiations over a reforms-for-cash deal with European partners and the IMF have not concluded despite four months of talks.

IMF announced Greece's request had been accepted. The new final deadline for Greece was set for June 30 -- the day Greece's extension on its second bailout program expires under the Eurogroup's Feb. 20 deal.

European shares declined broadly after Greece postponed a debt repayment Friday, with Athens stocks diving around 5 percent.

In Asia, Chinese benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.54 percent to finish at 5,023.1 points, surpassing the 5,000-point psychological mark for the first time in over 7 years, mainly propped up by capital re-entering the market following Initial Public Offerings.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.9 percent, and the S&P 500 lost 0. 7 percent, while the Nasdaq edged down less than 0.1 percent. Endite