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US STOCKS-Futures flat ahead of payrolls data

Published 12/03/2010, 07:18 AM
Updated 12/03/2010, 07:20 AM

* S&P 500 faces strong resistance after two-day rally

* Payrolls data on tap, unemployment seen unchanged

* Futures: Dow up 6 pts, S&P off 0.9 pt, Nasdaq up 1 pt

NEW YORK, Dec 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday, following Wall Street's biggest two-day rally in three months and ahead of key labor market data that will show whether the economic recovery is on track.

* Investors awaited non-farm payrolls figures, due at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT) and expected to show U.S. employers added 140,000 jobs in November after a rise of 151,000 jobs in October. The unemployment rate is seen remaining at 9.6 percent.

* The U.S. economic conditions in the services sector as well as factory orders data are due at 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT).

* S&P 500 futures dipped 0.9 point and were slightly 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 gained 6 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 1 point.

* Wall Street climbed for a second day Thursday as concerns about Europe's sovereign debt crisis waned, prompting investors to reverse bearish bets on the market. The S&P 500 rose 3.5 percent over the two sessions, its largest such advance since early September.

* The benchmark closed at 1,221.53 on Thursday and faces strong technical resistance in the 1,225-1,230 area, which coincides with a recent two-year high and the 61.8 percent Fibonacci retracement of the index's slide from October 2007 to March 2009, a key technical indicator.

* U.S.-based mining group Walter Energy Inc agreed to buy Canada's Western Coal Corp for about $3.25 billion to create the world's leading metallurgical coal producer.

* European Union antitrust regulators have raided the offices of some pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca Plc, suspected of colluding to block cheaper generic drugs from entering the market.

* China will switch to a prudent monetary policy from a moderately loose stance, the Communist Party's top leaders decided Friday, a change that could pave the way for more interest rate increases and lending controls.

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