By Angela Moon
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow index futures were little changed on Friday after a four-day slide as investors keenly awaited the government's employment report for key insight into the economy.
Investors braced for the data on June employment, due at 8:30 a.m., which likely contracted for the first time this year as thousands of temporary government jobs for census workers ended, though private-sector hiring probably picked up, according to a Reuters survey.
With mounting fears of a double-dip recession, the employment report will be closely watched for fresh insight on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery. A recent flurry of sluggish U.S. economic data and sovereign debt worries in Europe knocked down global equities while boosting the appeal of safe-haven U.S. Treasuries.
S&P 500 futures were flat and slightly below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 2 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 4.5 points.
Australia ended a damaging dispute with global miners on Friday by dumping its "super profits" tax for a lower resources rent tax backed by big miners, clearing a major hurdle to call an early election. The news helped lift European stocks and mining shares such as Rio Tinto
Biotech shares will be in the spotlight. French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis SA
British power supply systems maker Chloride
Dell Inc
Major indexes closed lower for a fourth straight day on Thursday after suffering their worst quarter since late 2008.
(Reporting by Angela Moon, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
