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1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end mildly lower on soft jobs report

Xinhua, July 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks reversed early gains to end modestly lower Thursday as investors were digesting weaker- than-expected jobs data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 27.80 points, or 0.16 percent, to 17,730.11. The S&P 500 edged down 0.64 point, or 0.03 percent, to 2,076.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 3.91 points, or 0.08 percent, to 5,009.21.

U.S. total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 223,000 in June, missing market consensus of 230,000, and the unemployment rate declined to 5.3 percent, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday.

In June, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls were unchanged at 24.95 dollars. Over the year, average hourly earnings have risen by 2 percent.

"Aside from the bigger-than-expected drop in the unemployment rate, this report was weaker-than-expected pretty much across the board. And yet, the three-month-average 221k payroll rise through June is pretty good by Federal Reserve standards," said Chris Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

In a separate report, the Labor Department announced that in the week ending June 27, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims was 281,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 271,000, above market expectations.

Greece remains in focus ahead of Sunday's referendum. Following an unexpected decision by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Greek citizens will vote Sunday in favor of or against a recent proposal made by the country's creditors to guarantee further financing.

There will be no further talks on Greece either at the Eurogroup level or between Greek authorities and the institutions until after Sunday's referendum, Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem said Wednesday.

European shares finished mostly lower as investors eyed Sunday' s referendum, with the Germany's benchmark DAX index at Frankfurt Stock Exchange going down 0.73 percent.

The U.S. stock markets will be closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday.

For the holiday-shortened week, both the blue-chip Dow and the broader S&P 500 dipped 1.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 1.4 percent. Endite