Stock futures were mixed early Friday, with Nasdaq-100 futures up 0.4%, S&P 500 futures barely positive at 0.04%, and Dow futures off 0.06%, as investors positioned themselves ahead of the August payrolls release.

Economists forecast the Labor Department's August employment report, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Eastern, to show 53,000 jobs added to nonfarm payrolls. August's figure would represent a swing back from the 23,000-job decline recorded in July. Economists polled by Dow Jones also expect the unemployment rate to hold at 4.1%.

Thursday's session ended on a strong note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 600 points, or 1.2%, notching its strongest session since Aug. 4. The S&P 500 rose more than 1% and the Nasdaq Composite finished up 1.4%. The rally was driven by comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who said he would be "inclined" to support holding rates at their current target range of 3.5% to 3.75% when policymakers gather for the Sept. 15-16 meeting, a stance that sent Treasury yields lower.

Stocks are on track for a winning week overall. For the week, the S&P 500 was looking at a 0.5% gain, the Nasdaq at 0.7%, and the Dow at 0.2%.

Treasury yields were little changed ahead of the data. The 10-year yield was at 4.767% and the 2-year yield hovered around 4.356%. The 2-year yield had touched 4.41% earlier in the week, driven higher by widespread market readings of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole remarks last week as hawkish. Odds of a September rate hike climbed as high as 70% at one point this week, according to MarketWatch , but pulled back to roughly even after Governor Waller's dovish remarks Thursday.

Oil was also in focus. Diesel fuel reached a fresh record of $5.85 per gallon Friday, surpassing the previous high set in 2022, according to The Wall Street Journal . Brent crude was hovering around $94.93 a barrel, down slightly on the day.

Asian markets were broadly higher. South Korea's Kospi rose 1.64% and Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1.26%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 1.82%. Mainland China's CSI 300 closed marginally lower at 4,548.05. European stocks were mixed, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 trading slightly higher.