US open: Stocks fluctuate after impressive payrolls data

US stock struggled for direction early on Friday, after a positive job report fuelled expectations of an interest rate hike this year.

Just after 15:00 BST, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 13 points, while the S&P 500 gained one point and the Nasdaq fell by the same margin.

Employment data impresses

US non-farm payrolls increased by 280,000 in May, ahead of the 226,000 predicted by economists, official data showed on Friday.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5%, as expected, while the average hourly earnings increased 0.3% month-on-month, slightly ahead of the 0.2% analyst had forecast.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said job gains occurred in professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and health care, while mining employment continued to decline.

“At this stage this evident strength in the labour market probably isn't enough to persuade the Fed to hike rates by July, but it definitely makes a rate cut by September probable,” said Capital Economics’ chief US economist Paul Ashworth.

Investors could get more clues over the Federal Reserve’s stance when William Dudley, the New York Fed president, speaks to the Economic Club of Minnesota at 17:30 BST.

Elsewhere, European stocks slid on Friday, along with German government bonds following news that Greece has delayed its €300m debt payment to the International Monetary Fund.

“It came as a slight surprise that Greece on short notice has decided to make one lump payment at the end of June instead of repaying the money it owes to the IMF in June,” said Markus Huber, senior analyst at Peregrine & Black.

OPEC decision

Oil prices fell, after OPEC decided to maintain its quota at 30m barrels per day in line with market expectations following the conclusion of its meeting in Vienna.

West Texas Intermediate shed 0.45% to $57.74 a barrel, while Brent lost 0.52% to $61.71 a barrel.

The dollar surged, gaining 0.85% against the euro and 0.96% against the yen and rising 1.06% against the euro, while gold futures fell 0.85% to $1,165.20.

In company news, clothing retailer Gap shed 0.60% after announcing late on Thursday that its like-for-like sales fell 1% in May.

Cardinal Health fell 1.38% after the company announced it would acquire privately-held genetics firm The Harvard Drug Group for $1.1bn.

Going the other way, solar cell designer JA Solar Holdings surged 12.9% after receiving a proposal to go private.