Stock futures climb before payrolls report; four-day slide may end

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

The 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.

"It's sort of a bounce back from yesterday's disappointing comments from Draghi," said Cort Gwon, chief strategist at HudsonView Capital Management in New York.

"But a big disappointment in the jobs number will accelerate the timetable for the Fed to do some sort of additional liquidity or QE3-type situation, so bad news could be good news if the jobs number is pretty bad."

The S&P 500 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. But on Thursday, he dashed hopes for quick rescue measures.

Knight Capital shares slumped 7.4 percent to $2.39 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. Securities regulators are looking into the events surrounding the trading glitch.

S&P 500 futures rose 12.1 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 99 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.

Dow component Procter & Gamble Co posted a drop in quarterly sales and said it would repurchase $4 billion worth of its shares this fiscal year.

LinkedIn Corp gained 8.3 percent to $101.25 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 trans-Atlantic 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 results, 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 pullback 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, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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