U.S. stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Friday as investors braced for the all-important monthly payrolls figures and unemployment rate, due at 8:30 a.m. EST.

At 5:43 a.m. EST, futures for the S&P 500 were flat, Dow Jones futures were down 0.11 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.12 percent.

A Reuters survey of 76 economists forecast U.S. nonfarm employers cutting 175,000 workers from their payrolls in October, which would be the smallest amount for any month since August 2008, while the unemployment rate is expected to have climbed to 9.9 percent in October from 9.8 percent in September.

Starbucks Corp will be in the spotlight after the coffee chain operator raised its financial forecasts for 2010 in the latest sign a year-long turnaround effort is boosting margins and putting it back on track for growth, sending shares up almost 4 percent.

Shares of Starbucks traded in Frankfurt were up 2.5 percent.

Europe shares edged up in early trading on Friday ahead of a the U.S. jobs data, with companies such as Royal Bank of Scotland and British Airways gaining after results.

British finance minister Alistair Darling said G20 policymakers are agreed it is too early to pull the plug on economic life-support packages as the global recovery is still fragile. Darling is hosting the meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers in St Andrews, Scotland later on Friday.

U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 up for a fourth day, as economic data boosted confidence in the recovery and strong results from Cisco Systems suggested a rebound in technology spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> jumped 203.82 points, or 2.08 percent, to end at 10,005.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 20.13 points, or 1.92 percent, to 1,066.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 49.80 points, or 2.42 percent, to close at 2,105.32.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by David Holmes)

United kingdom S&P Alistair Darling Investment