U.S. stock index futures were mixed in choppy trading on Thursday, after the U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected in July.
The Dow and the S&P 500 both closed at record highs on Thursday, while the Nasdaq Composite chalked up its highest close in nearly 13 years.
The U.S. economy created 162,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in July after a downwardly revised 188,000 in June. The unemployment rate was 7.4 percent.
Analysts polled by Reuters expect to see a gain of 184,000 in July, after a 195,000 uptick in the previous month.
(Read More: Jobs data should show pickup in manufacturing)
Mark Zandi of Moody's Analytics said, "The reality is we take last month's report that was better than we thought and this month's report that was a little worse than we thought and the reality is it's somewhere in between."
The data may not be enough to keep the Federal Reserve from starting to curtail its bond purchases in September. Zandi expects the Fed to cut its bond purchases by $20 billion to $25 billion.
Others see a smaller cut back in purchases. "I think they'll only do $15 billion because the evidence will be still somewhat ambiguous," BNY Mellon economist Richard Hoey told CNBC. "Enough for them to act. I don't think they'll do $25 billion. That's too strong a measure."
(Read More: Here's a number worth watching in jobs report)
In other U.S. data due on Friday, U.S. consumer spending increased 0.5 percent in June, lifted by automobile purchases and higher gasoline prices. May's increase was revised down to 0.2 percent from a previously reported 0.3 percent. Personal incomes, meanwhile, rose 0.3 percent down slightly from May's revised 0.4 percent increase.
June factory orders are out at 10 a.m. ET which are expected to be higher by 2.3 percent following a 2.1 percent May increase.
On the earnings front, Dow component Chevron leads the list of quarterly earnings out on Friday morning. The U.S. oil major posted a 26 percent decline in net income due to lower oil prices and maintenance work at its U.S. refineries.
Viacom, meanwhile, reported a 14 percent rise in revenue helped by strong advertising and affiliate fees at its cable networks. The media giant also doubled its stock buyback program to $20 billion.
LinkedIn shares are higher in premarket trading following better-than-expected earnings late Thursday and after a number of brokers hiked their price targets on the social networking firm.
AIG stock is also rising premarket after the company posted strong earnings and said it would be resuming a dividend and launching a stock buyback.
Also on Friday, a third Dell shareholder meeting to vote on CEO Michael Dell's buyout is expected. Dell's special committee and the buyout group led by Michael Dell are close to an agreement that would help clear passage of the deal. The deal calls for $13.75 per share and a special dividend of 13 cents per share.
Meanwhile, a court hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court may provide a roadmap for how Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing will unfold.
(Read More: U.S. bankruptcy court to shed light on Detroit case timeline)
In Europe, shares were mixed on Friday as investors looked ahead with caution to the U.S. jobs report. Insurance group Allianz rose 1.64 percent after it posted a strong second-quarter performance on Friday, helped by the performance of Pimco, which saw 40 percent profit growth from the first quarter.
In Asia, stocks rallied on Friday, extending the previous day's strong gains after positive economic data from China, Europe and the U.S. and a commitment to easy monetary policy from global central banks. The Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) published their latest monetary policy announcements on Thursday, both keeping interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5 percent.
