By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Economists expect U.S. added 213,000 jobs

U.S. stocks looked on track to fall at the open Friday and end lower for the week, but an eagerly awaited jobs report could shake up trading before the holiday weekend.

Stock futures lost ground, with S&P 500 futures down 20.10 points, or 1%, to 1,926.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 179 points, or 1.1%, to 16,169 after briefly falling more than 200 points. Nasdaq 100 declined by 44.25 points, or 1.1%, to 4,185.25.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 and Dow finished higher (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-set-for-upbeat-day-ahead-of-claims-data-ecb-meeting-2015-09-03) for a second day in a row, but only after giving up most of their intraday gains. The two indexes are both on pace for weekly drops of nearly 2% as of Thursday's close.

The monthly jobs report is widely seen as the last notable reading on the U.S. economy's health before the Federal Reserve decides whether to raise interest rates at its two-day meeting. A weaker-than-expected reading could trigger more bets by traders that the Fed won't hike rates at the meeting, which starts Sept. 16.

Read:What to watch in the critical August jobs report (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-to-watch-in-the-critical-august-jobs-report-2015-09-03)

"Our house call for a September liftoff will be reviewed after the August employment report," said Torsten Slok, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank Securities, in a note late Thursday.

Also see:Panel of ex-Fed officials say no rate hike in September (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/panel-of-ex-fed-officials-say-no-rate-hike-will-come-at-september-meeting-2015-09-03)

The nonfarm-payrolls report and unemployment rate for August are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect the U.S. gained 213,000 jobs last month as the unemployment rate dipped to 5.2%. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, has argued the Fed won't decide to raise interest rates (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-wont-raise-rates-if-august-jobs-gains-below-200000-moodys-zandi-2015-09-03) this month if the August job gains come in below 200,000.

Other markets: Japan's Nikkei dropped and notched its biggest weekly drop since April 2014 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nikkei-falls-to-its-lowest-level-since-february-2015-09-04), while trading in China was closed for a national holiday.

European stocks (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-set-for-weekly-loss-with-key-us-jobs-report-ahead-2015-09-04) lost ground, and crude-oil prices (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-fall-as-investors-wait-for-key-us-jobs-report-2015-09-04) also retreated. The dollar (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dollar-weakens-ahead-of-august-jobs-report-2015-09-04) and gold both pulled back.

Trading in U.S. markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Check out: When do markets close for Labor Day (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/when-do-markets-close-for-labor-day-2015-09-03)

Movers and shakers: Shares in Netflix Inc.(NFLX) fell in premarket action, putting the streaming-video company on track for its sixth down session in a row. The slump has come as investors fret about increasing competition (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/netflixs-stock-drops-again-heads-toward-a-fifth-straight-loss-2015-09-03).

Late Thursday, Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN) signaled it is eyeing more streaming options by announcing that it plans to buy video reformatter Elemental Technologies Inc (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-to-buy-video-reformatter-elemental-technologies-2015-09-03-161035650).

Shares in Twitter Inc.(TWTR) could make moves, as the social-media company is expected to name a new CEO (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hey-twitter-is-jack-dorsey-going-to-be-ceo-or-what-2015-09-03), perhaps as early as Friday.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.(BABA) also was grabbing the spotlight following news that its founders plan to borrow $2 billion against their shares (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/alibaba-founders-to-borrow-2-billion-against-company-shares-reports-2015-09-04) in the company.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 04, 2015 08:05 ET (12:05 GMT)