04:07 PM EDT, 06/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US benchmark equity indexes closed lower Friday as official data showed that nonfarm payrolls and wage growth for May exceeded Wall Street's expectations.

* Nonfarm payrolls in the US climbed by 272,000 last month, after a 165,000 gain in April and a 310,000 increase in March, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Analysts in a Bloomberg-compiled survey were modeling for a 180,000 increase.

* Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in May, faster than the 0.3% gain expected, and following a 0.2% increase in April.

* July West Texas Intermediate crude oil fell $0.27 to $75.28 per barrel, while August Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen down $0.49 to $79.38.

* Oddity Tech ( ODD ) shares were up 21% after its board approved a stock buyback program of up to $150 million of its Class A shares.

* GameStop ( GME ) shares sank 39% after its fiscal Q1 sales dropped from a year earlier, missing analysts estimates.