By Yashaswini Swamynathan
Oct 6 (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were flat on Friday after a recent strong run and ahead of a crucial jobs report that could provide further clues on the health of the economy.
* The benchmark S&P 500 index set its sixth straight record closing high on Thursday as investors cheered significant headway made by the Trump administration to overhaul taxes.
* The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report is expected to show nonfarm payrolls rose 90,000 last month, compared with 156,000 in August, as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma displaced workers and delayed hiring.
* The report, which will include readings on the unemployment rate and wages, is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
* However, economists have said that the labor market continued to tighten and that a weak jobs number would do little to change the Federal Reserve’s view of a December interest rate hike.
* Economic data has been robust this week, including strong August factory orders, smaller-than-expected trade deficit and the fastest U.S. services sector expansion in 12 years.
* The dollar is set for its fourth week of gains as investors favored the global currency amid political uncertainty in Spain and increased bets of a U.S. rate hike in the coming months.
* Oil prices were off about 1 percent after a week of profit-taking and the return of oversupply worries.
* New York Fed President William Dudley is scheduled to speak on the outlook for monetary policy at a conference at 12:15 p.m. ET.
* Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic and his Dallas counterpart Robert Kaplan will speak at a conference in Austin, Texas.
* Costco’s shares were down 2.7 percent at $167.49 in premarket trading after the warehouse club retailer reported a fall in gross margins due to an intense price war among grocers.
* Synchronoss Technologies jumped 23 percent to $13.20 after the software maker said it would restart buyout talks with its top shareholder Siris Capital Partners.
Futures snapshot at 6:49 a.m. ET:
* Dow e-minis were down 10 points, or 0.04 percent, with 9,972 contracts changing hands.
* S&P 500 e-minis were down 1 point, or 0.04 percent, with 79,054 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 3.25 points, or 0.05 percent, on volume of 16,012 contracts.
(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
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