08:59 AM EDT, 09/06/2024 (MT Newswires) -- US equity futures turned cautiously lower ahead of Friday's opening bell as traders digested the pivotal monthly jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 0.1%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.1% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.3%.

Oil prices were higher, with front-month global benchmark North Sea Brent crude up 0.5% at $73.02 per barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude up 0.6% at $69.53 per barrel.

Nonfarm payrolls, released at 8:30 am ET, rose by 142,000 in August following July's 89,000 growth, compared with estimates compiled by Bloomberg for a larger 165,000 gain. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped by 10 basis points as expected to 4.2%.

In other world markets, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.7% lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended 0.07% lower and China's Shanghai Composite finished 0.8% lower. Meanwhile, UK's FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% and Germany's DAX index fell 0.5% in Europe's early afternoon session.

In equities, shares of Wheeler REIT (WHLR) more than doubled after saying that an appeals court affirmed the dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against it. Bowlero ( BOWL ) shares were up 12% after the company reported higher fiscal Q4 revenue that topped analysts' estimates.

On the losing side, BRP (DOOO) shares were 9% lower after the company reported lower fiscal Q2 normalized earnings and sales.