US futures hold tight ahead of payrolls data

Futures on major U.S. stock indices remained range-bound on Friday as investors await for key U.S. monthly non-farm payrolls and unemployment data from the government.

Futures on the S&P 500 are down 0.07 percent and futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are down 0.03 percent, while Nasdaq100 futures are up 0.05 percent.

Investors are eagerly waiting for the government's monthly nonfarm payrolls report, which is the most closely-watched economic data pertaining to the jobs market and is a key gauge for the direction and pace of the economic recovery.

The Labor Department is due to report monthly non-farm payrolls data at 8:30 am EDT. The median forecast for the non-farm payrolls is a gain of 140,000 jobs in November, compared with a gain of 151,000 jobs in the previous month, while unemployment rate is expected to remain unchanged at 9.6 percent for the third straight month.

Nonfarm payroll employment rose by 151,000 in October, the biggest monthly gain since April. Employment in the private sector rose by 159,000 over the month, nearly double the expectations of 75,000 jobs.

Recent reports from the labor market are suggesting that conditions have improved greatly in the past two months, but still the U.S. labor market is far below from its pre-crisis level as the current unemployment rate still above 9.5 percent levels compared to the range of 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent which was set before crisis.

Other economic data including ISM Non-manufacturing index and monthly factory orders data are due to be released after the markets open.

US stocks rallied for a second straight session on Thursday as traders' sentiment was buoyed by some strong November chain-store retail sales figures and by the European Central Bank (ECB) to maintain liquidity safety measures for troubled banks.

The euro advanced 0.37 percent to 1.3258 against the dollar and the yen gained 0.22 percent against the greenback.

Crude oil futures advanced 0.37 percent to $88.17/barrel and gold futures advanced 0.21 percent.

European stock markets are currently trading in tight range with FTSE 100 up by 0.62 points, DAX30 up by 1.32 points and CAC 40 up by 18.42 points.