US pre-open: Futures mixed ahead of NFP data

Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Friday as investors awaited the release of December's all-important non-farm payrolls report.

As of 1240 GMT, Dow Jones futures were up 0.12%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.01% and 0.21% lower, respectively.

The Dow closed 339.69 points lower on Thursday following the release of a stronger-than-expected ADP private payrolls report

Friday's primary focus will be last month's non-farm payrolls report and unemployment figures at 1330 GMT, with economists expecting to see payrolls drop from 263,000 to 200,000 and the unemployment rate hold steady at 3.7%.

If the report comes in ahead of expectations, potentially indicating that the labour market is more resilient than thought, it could force the Federal Reserve to go further with its efforts to tame inflation.

Elsewhere on the macro front, last month's non-manufacturing PMI from the Institute of Supply Management will be out at 1500 GMT, as will November factory orders data.

Federal Reserve officials Raphael Bostic, Lisa Cook, and Tom Barkin will all deliver speeches throughout the course of the day.

No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Friday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com