Thomson Reuters



* Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street
on Friday, after heavy falls in the previous session and
following declines in Europe and Asia, with some caution
expected ahead of a key labour market report.

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* At 0949 GMT, futures for the Dow Jones , S&P 500
and Nasdaq were down between 0.3 and 0.4 percent.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European
shares was down 1.6 percent at 976.82 points, and had hit a
two-month low, on growing worries about sovereign debt in euro
zone peripheral countries, with banks taking most off the index.

* A Reuters poll predicted non-farm payrolls grew by 5,000 in
January, after a surprise 85,000 drop in December. The
unemployment rate is expected to edge up to 10.1 percent in
January from 10 percent.

* Other economic data due on Friday include the Economic
Cycle Research Institute's (ECRI) monthly inflation numbers at
1440 GMT.

* The Dow Jones industrial average briefly fell below
the crucial 10,000 mark on Thursday as stocks suffered their
worst losses in more than nine months on escalating sovereign
debt problems in Europe and an unexpected rise in jobless
claims. The S&P 500 fell 3.1 percent.

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