Wall Street closes lower on rate rise concerns

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NYSE tradersImage source, Getty Images

(Close): Wall Street closed lower as concerns continued that a buoyant jobs market would encourage the US central bank to increase interest rates sooner than previously thought.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 83 points, or 0.5%, at 17,766.11.

The S&P 500 fell by 13 points, or 0.65%, to 2,079.28, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq ended the trading session 47 points lower, or 0.92%, to 5,021.63.

Fears about the financial situation in Greece also hit sentiment.

Shares in Apple closed down 0.4% after it announced plans to launch a music streaming service to rival Spotify.

And airline shares, such as Delta and JetBlue, fell sharply despite an upbeat report from the industry body IATA forecasting that airlines could make $29.3bn this year, nearly double last year's level.

However investors were more interested in a downgrade from the investment firm Raymond James.

Its analyst Savanthi Syth said in a research note that the industry's recovery "is likely to be somewhat muted vs. previous expectations due to the softer than expected U.S. economic growth."

On the upside, Deutsche Bank ended 5% higher on the New York Stock Exchange as investors reacted favourably to Sunday's resignation of its two co-chief executives.