Wall Street set to open lower on weak jobs data

By Yashaswini Swamynathan and Gayathree Ganesan

REUTERS - Wall Street looked set to open lower on Friday after a report showed U.S. employment fell in September for the first time in seven years as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left displaced workers temporarily unemployed and delayed hiring.

The Labor Department's closely watched employment report showed nonfarm payrolls decreased by 33,000 jobs last month, the latest indication that the storms undercut economic activity in the third quarter.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected jobs to rise by 90,000.

Unemployment rate fell to 4.2 percent in September from 4.4 percent in August, while average wages increased to 0.5 percent, according to the report.

"This morning's weakness is likely for the disappointing number. But, I think, this is a short-lived phenomenon," Andre Bakhos, managing director at Janlyn Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

At 8:37 a.m. ET (1237 GMT), Dow e-minis were down 20 points, or 0.09 percent, with 14,291 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 3.5 points, or 0.14 percent, with 130,264 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 11 points, or 0.18 percent, on volume of 25,866 contracts.

The 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.

Among stocks, Costco was down 3.3 percent at $161.28 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 more than 27 percent to $13.66 after the software maker said it would restart buyout talks with top shareholder Siris Capital Partners.

Drug store chain Walgreens Boots Alliance was down nearly 2 percent following a Morgan Stanley downgrade and price target cut.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan and Gayathree Ganesan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)