Empresas y finanzas

Stock futures rise after four-day slide ahead of payrolls

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose Friday, indicating the S&P 500 may reverse a four-day losing streak ahead of key data on the U.S. labor market.

Labor Department releases the July employment report at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). Employment probably only inched up in July as the economy struggled to regain momentum, strengthening expectations of additional monetary stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Non-farm payrolls likely rose 100,000 last month, according to a Reuters survey, after gaining 80,000 in June.

The S&P 500 index has fallen more than 1.5 percent this week as investor hopes for further stimulus measures from central banks were dampened and a trading error at market maker Knight Capital Group Inc on Wednesday dealt another blow to confidence in market structure.

The decline comes after the benchmark index saw its best two-day run of the year to close out the prior week as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi heightened expectations for more immediate action to contain the euro zone debt crisis when he pledged to do "whatever it takes" to save the euro.

Knight Capital shares slumped 7.8 percent to $2.38 in premarket trade as the company fought for survival after a $440 million trading loss caused by a software glitch wiped out much of its capital. U.S. securities regulators are looking into the events surrounding the trading glitch.

S&P 500 futures rose 13.2 points and were above 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 92 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures gained 26.5 points.

Other economic data expected later in the session includes the Institute for Supply Management's July non-manufacturing index at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a reading of 52.0 versus 52.1 in June.

LinkedIn Corp gained 9.1 percent to $102 in premarket after the professional networking site reported higher-than-expected revenue and raised its full-year outlook as it pocketed more money from subscribers, services aimed at businesses and advertising.

NYSE Euronext said new strategies and cost cuts should help the transatlantic exchange return to growth next year after losses in its three main business lines forced quarterly income down a fifth.

According to Thomson Reuters data though Thursday morning, of the 385 in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 67 percent have reported earnings above analyst expectations. Over the past four quarters, 68 percent of companies beat estimates.

European stocks rose, erasing most of the previous day's pull-back and resuming a week-long rally as investors judged the European Central Bank remains committed to bold action to fight the debt crisis. The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was up 1.6 percent. <.EU>

Asian shares fell as investors shunned risk after the European Central Bank took no immediate action and only hinted at future steps to tackle the euro zone's fiscal woes, following similar inaction from the Federal Reserve.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak)

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