(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Futures: Dow off 0.07%, S&P 500 up 0.07%, Nasdaq up 0.14%

Oct 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were tepid on

Friday as investors refrained from making significant bets ahead

of crucial payrolls data and watched for any escalation in

geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

The Labor Department's non-farm payrolls data, due at 8:30

a.m. ET, is expected to show that the economy likely maintained

a moderate pace of job growth in September, while the

unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 4.2%.

"Looking at the broad picture of the U.S. labor market, the

position is what it has been all year. Firms are slower to hire,

but not keen to fire. This gives job security and supports

consumer spending patterns," said Paul Donovan, chief economist

at UBS Global Wealth Management.

The labor market is under greater scrutiny after the U.S.

Federal Reserve slashed interest rates in September by a rare 50

basis points to stave off any further weakening in employment.

Friday's figures could shed light on the central bank's policy

trajectory for the remainder of the year.

Odds of a smaller 25 bps reduction at the Fed's November

meeting stand at 68%, up from 46.7% a week ago, according to the

CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Traders expect borrowing costs to fall by 66 bps before the

year ends, down from nearly 79 bps a week ago, according to data

compiled by LSEG, as recent reports pointed to strong service

sector activity in September.

At 05:42 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 28 points,

or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 4 points, or 0.07% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 27.5 points, or 0.14%.

Investors will also scrutinize comments from New York Fed

President John Williams before markets open for insights on the

jobs report and the policy path.

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower in the previous

session and were set to finish the first week of October on the

back foot as investors were skittish about escalating tensions

in the Middle East and a workers' strike earlier this week.

Analysts said the events could have an impact on the

inflation and labor figures for October.

Energy stocks such as Occidental Petroleum ( OXY ) edged

higher 0.86%, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) inched up 0.59% and Chevron ( CVX )

crept up 0.69% in premarket trading, as crude prices

surged on concerns of supply disruptions in the Middle East due

to the widening regional conflict.

The S&P 500 Energy sector is on track to log its

biggest weekly jump since March 2023.

Meanwhile, ports on the East and Gulf Coasts began reopening

late on Thursday after workers reached a wage deal, but clearing

the cargo backlog will likely take time. U.S. shares of Zim

Integrated Shipping Services were down 7%.

Among others, Spirit Airlines ( SAVE ) nosedived 44% after a

report showed the carrier was in talks with bondholders about

the terms of a potential bankruptcy filing after its failed

merger with JetBlue Airways ( JBLU ).

Rate-sensitive growth stocks such as Tesla and

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) climbed 1.3% each, chip stocks Nvidia ( NVDA )

and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) gained 0.1% each,

while Broadcom ( AVGO ) added 0.39%.