By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on track for its first lower week out of five, as investors awaited the monthly employment report.
The benchmark index has fallen for three straight sessions since closing at a record high of 2,003.37 a week ago. Both the Dow Industrials <.DJI> and S&P 500 <.SPX> managed to touch fresh intraday highs on Thursday, before weakness in energy shares caused major indexes to retreat.
Investors were looking ahead to the August jobs report, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), to assess the economy's strength and possible timing of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Estimates call for nonfarm payrolls to rise to 225,000 and the unemployment rate to fall to 6.1 percent. A reading above 200,000 would mark the seventh straight month at such a pace, a streak not seen since 1997.
S&P 500 e-mini futures
Michael Kors
Gap Inc
European stocks fell as traders cashed in on recent gains, fueled by fresh monetary stimulus in Europe, and awaited U.S. jobs data.
In Asia, Japan's Topix <.TOPX> stalled just shy of its January high, while Chinese stocks extended a rally, with the CSI300 <.CSI300> climbing to its highest in over eight months.
(Editing by Bernadette Baum)