Futures slip ahead of key payrolls data

US stock index futures fell on Friday as caution prevailed ahead of a key jobs data report that could be pivotal when the Federal Reserve decides on the size of its interest rate cut that is expected later this month.

The August nonfarm payrolls figure due at 8:30 a.m. ET is the final crucial labor market data before the US central bank's September meeting and is expected to show a 160,000 rise in jobs, up from 114,000 in July. The unemployment rate is forecast to ease to 4.2 per cent in August, from 4.3 per cent in the previous month.

"The key question of course is how the Fed is going to react after today's labor market data ... a 50-bps cut could be seen as an implicit admission of the Fed being behind the curve," Teeuwe Mevissen, senior macro strategist at Rabobank, said.

The labor market has come under scrutiny after an unexpected rise in the jobless rate sparked recession fears and sent the tech-heavy Nasdaq down more than 10 per cent into correction territory and led to a selloff in global markets nearly a month ago.

Traders' bets for a 25-basis point interest rate cut in September now stand at 59 per cent, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, while those for a 50-bps reduction have risen to 41 per cent from 30 per cent a week earlier.

Markets will also parse remarks from New York Fed President John Williams and Fed Governor Christopher Waller for their insights on the data and consequent central bank policy.

At 06:56 am ET, Dow E-minis were down 151 points, or 0.36 per cent, S&P 500 E-minis were down 37 points, or 0.66 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 225.75 points, or 1.19 per cent.

The S&P 500 and the blue-chip Dow hit a more than three-week low on Thursday after a set of mixed economic data fueled uncertainty on the pace of monetary policy easing.

September has been historically weak for US equities, with the benchmark S&P 500 down about 1.2 per cent for the month on average since 1928.

The S&P 500 is on track for a weekly drop of more than 2 per cent, its steepest decline in nearly five months, led by a near 5 per cent drop in technology stocks.

Broadcom slid 8.7 per cent after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue slightly below estimates, hurt by sluggish spending in its broadband segment.

Other chip stocks such as Nvidia and Marvell Technology dropped over 1.6 per cent each, while Advanced Micro Devices shed 1 per cent. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index is set for its biggest weekly drop in more than a month.

Super Micro Computer dropped 2.9 per cent after brokerage JPMorgan downgraded the AI server maker's shares to "neutral" from "overweight".

Mobileye Global fell 4.6 per cent after a report that top shareholder Intel is exploring a sale of part of its stake in the automotive tech firm.

UiPath jumped 9 per cent after the enterprise automation and AI software company raised its annual revenue forecast.