Before the bell: U.S. jobs report buoys stocks

U.S. stock futures are mixed Friday morning on hopes of more positive American jobs data due later today while fresh worries over the Eurozone debt crisis continue to rattle investor sentiment producing mixed market results in Asia and Europe.

Trading of Italy's largest bank UniCredit was halted after the stock lost a quarter of its value. Outside the Eurozone, Hungary had to pay an interest rate of 10 per cent on its 12-month debt, far above the 7 per cent level that forced Greece and Portugal to seek emergency bailouts. Meanwhile, overnight bank deposits at the European Central Bank hit yet another record high (€455.3 billion).

On Wall Street, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 11 points to 12320. S&P 500 Index futures fell 1.50 points to 1271.50, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 2 points to 2341.50. Forthcoming U.S. non-farm payroll data, due today, is expected to show jobs growth in the world's largest economy.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index was recently up 0.3 per cent at 248.22. Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.4 per cent to 6121.69, Paris's CAC-40 Index was 0.6 per cent higher at 3165.17 and London's FTSE 100 Index was up 0.2 per cent at 5633.82. The euro currency presently sits at US$1.2809.

In Asia, markets fell over the ongoing Eurozone troubles. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1.2 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.7 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.2 per cent, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.7 per cent and South Korea's Kospi Composite slid 1.1 per cent.

Here at home, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed at 12,237.40, up 10.93 points, or 0.09 per cent on Thursday, it's highest rise in a month. The advance was driven by the mining sector and unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data that offset fears over Europe's banking sector. The Canadian dollar is presently at 98.13¢ US.