U.S. stocks closed lower Friday amid continued concerns over Greece and a strong jobs report that renewed the possibility of an earlier Federal Reserve rate hike. In U.S. economic news, the Labor Department reported that the United States created 257,000 jobs in January, beating estimates of roughly 230,000. Average hourly earnings also grew by 0.5 percent, above estimates. The unemployment rate increased to 5.7 percent, above estimates. Non-farm productivity fell a greater-than-expected 1.8 percent for the fourth quarter. Economists had forecast productivity, which measures hourly output per worker, rising at a 0.5 percent pace. In international economic news, equities traded lower in Europe after Greece's talks with Germany over the future of its rescue program had mixed success. Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis met his German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin Thursday after a week of touring European capitals in an effort to drum up support for Greece's new proposals over its debt and rescue program. Following the talks, Schaeuble said that the ministers had "agreed to disagree." In corporate news, JPMorgan Chase traded 3 percent higher to gains on the Dow. Goldman Sachs also traded nearly 2 percent higher. Moody's and Madison Square Garden posted earnings that beat expectations. CBOE Holdings missed expectations. The dollar traded higher against major world currencies. Light sweet crude oil for March gained $1.21 to $51.69 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures fell $28.10 to $1,234.60 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 60.46, or 0.34 percent, to 17,824.42. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index declined 7.05, or 0.34 percent, to 2,055.47. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite decreased 20.70, or 0.43 percent, to 4,744.40.
