UNITED STATES

U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday as investors braced for key monthly jobs data for clues on the direction of the economy and the sustainability of a recent run-up.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported more losses on Friday as investment banking profits failed to offset bad debts and the state-owned lender warned of more poor results to come before its own and the economy's recovery.

Canadian auto parts company Magna International Inc , one of the two bidders vying to buy carmaker Opel from General Motors, on Friday reported a second quarter loss, hurt by steep declines in global auto production.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high as markets looked to upcoming U.S. July employment data for clues on whether the U.S. economy could be emerging from recession.

Top Japanese tire maker Bridgestone tumbled to an operating loss in the second quarter, hit by the economic slump and a stronger yen, but raised its full-year outlook again after a surprise upgrade in June.

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Friday, as investors braced for key monthly jobs data.

State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted a 1 billion-pound ($1.7 billion) net loss in the first-half on Thursday, as bad debts soared to 7.5 billion pounds, and warned of more poor results to come as its recovery would take time.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high in the previous session, as markets awaited U.S. July employment data later on Friday, a major indicator of how well the U.S. economy is doing pulling out of recession.

Asian stocks dipped on Friday as investors grew cautious before a key U.S. jobs report, while the Australian dollar got only a brief lift despite signals from the central bank that interest rates could rise over time.

Twitter and Facebook suffered service problems from hacker attacks on Thursday, raising speculation about a coordinated campaign against the world's most popular online social networks.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor won approval on Thursday to become the first Hispanic on the U.S. Supreme Court in a Senate vote that President Barack Obama said broke another social barrier.

The U.S. Senate approved and sent to the White House on Thursday a $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers autos sales incentive program.

Reformists kept up pressure for leadership change in the dominant Palestinian party Fatah on Thursday, and Saudi Arabia said no Palestinian state could emerge unless such internal divisions were healed.

The Nasdaq-listed Chinese search engine Baidu Inc has topped Yahoo! to become the world's second most popular search engine in June, the US marketing research company ComScore released in its report this week.

Dutch telecoms group KPN confirmed its offer of $1.55 per share for iBasis shares it does not yet own after iBasis repeatedly objected to the bid on Thursday because it was inadequate.

Private equity firm Blackstone Group LP reported higher quarterly earnings on Thursday, topping Wall Street expectations, and said it was sitting on its biggest cash pile ever, with $29 billion to deploy.

Abu Dhabi-owned energy company TAQA Bratani Ltd plans to boost North Sea oil and gas production by buying up mature oilfields and greatly increasing their efficiency, the head of the company's UK arm said on Thursday.

The U.S. Senate approved and sent to the White House on Thursday a $2 billion extension of the cash for clunkers autos sales incentive program.

Fannie Mae, the largest provider of U.S. home mortgage funding, on Thursday reported a $14.8 billion quarterly net loss that it said would force it to go to the U.S. Treasury trough a third time for money to stay in business.

Investors overlooked weak July sales results from some U.S. apparel chains and sent the shares of battered names such as Gap Inc , Limited Brands Inc and Zumiez Inc up on hopes of improvement later this year.

The number of U.S. workers submitting new claims for jobless benefits fell sharply last week, fanning hopes the fragile labor market was on the mend and that the broader economy was stabilizing.