S&P 500 futures fell on Friday as investors look to Friday’s key jobs report for further clues about the state of the U.S. economy. Futures tied to the broad market index were down 0.6%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 140 points, or 0.4%. Nasdaq 100 futures slid 1%. Broadcom dropped more than 7% after forecasting fiscal fourth-quarter revenue just shy of analysts’ estimates. The August jobs report is set for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are calling for nonfarm payrolls growth of 161,000 and a slight decline in the unemployment rate to 4.2%. The report is expected to inform the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy decision later this month. Despite concerns stemming from the recent labor data, markets remain optimistic that the Fed will begin lowering interest rates by at least a quarter-percentage point at the conclusion of the September policy meeting. Stocks head into Friday’s report on track for a losing week. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are so far lower by 2.6% and 3.3%, respectively. The 30-stock Dow is down 1.9% this week. “September is living up to its reputation as a historically bad month for stocks. … The sudden change in momentum and jump in volatility has left many investors questioning the sustainability of the recovery from the August lows and if the rebound was simply a relief rally off oversold levels,” LPL Financial chief technical strategist Adam Turnquist said. U.S. Treasury yields were lower on Friday as investors geared up for the release of the August jobs report as concerns about an economic slowdown have been growing. At 6:07 a.m. ET, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was down by over 3 basis points at 3.7%. The 2-year Treasury yield was last more than 3 basis points lower at 3.716%. Asia-Pacific markets mostly fell on Friday as investors brace for a crucial jobs report from the U.S. and digested household spending data from Japan. Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.72% to close at 36,3191.47 and record its fourth straight losing day, and the broad based Topix was 0.89% lower at 2,597.42 after the data release. South Korea’s Kospi was 1.21% lower, ending at 2,544.28 and the small cap Kosdaq tumbled 2.58% to also record a four day losing streak. In contrast, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.39%, finishing at 8,013.4. In Hong Kong, the city’s markets will be shut today after the Hong Kong observatory issued a typhoon signal due to Super Typhoon Yagi. Mainland China’s CSI 300 traded 0.81% below the flatline, closing at a fresh seven month low of 3,231.35. Oil prices edged up in early trading on Friday as investors weighed a big withdrawal from U.S. crude inventories and a delay to production hikes by OPEC+ producers against mixed U.S. employment data. Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.26%, to $72.88 at 0010 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 22 cents, or 0.32%, to $69.37. “Crude oil edged higher as bullish signals offset the bearish sentiment that has gripped the market in recent days,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said, adding that a weaker dollar was also supporting commodities prices. Brent settled down 1 cent at its lowest close since June 2023 on Thursday and WTI was down 5 cents to the lowest close since December 2023 after data showed that U.S. crude stockpiles fell to a one-year low last week. Gold prices hovered near a one-week high on Friday and were on track for weekly gains, as investors focused on U.S. jobs data that could shape the size of Federal Reserve’s expected rate cut this month. Spot gold rose 0.1% at $2,518.49 per ounce, after hitting a one-week high of $2,523.29 in the previous session. Bullion gained 0.6% for the week. U.S. gold futures firmed 0.2% to $2,548.50.