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US futures up ahead of payrolls

New York - US stock index futures were higher on Friday as investors looked ahead to a jobs report that was expected to sharply rebound from the previous month, though indexes were on track for a second straight weekly decline.

*The September payroll report, due at 14:30, is seen showing 215 000 jobs added in the month, up from 142 000 in August. As well, the jobless rate probably held at a six-year low, which could support bets that the Federal Reserve will raise rates in mid-2015.

Equities have been volatile of late.

*Over the past 250 sessions, the S&P 500 posted an average daily move of 14.7 points, which it has topped each day in the past seven sessions. The benchmark index fell as much as 1 percent on Thursday, at one point dropping under its 150-day moving average - a level it had not breached since November 2012 - before rebounding sharply. It closed little changed.

* For the week, the Dow is down 1.8%, the S&P is down 1.9% and the Nasdaq is down 1.8%. It is the second straight weekly decline for all three. The CBOE Volatility index , a measure of investor anxiety, is up about 30% over the past two weeks, though at 16.16 on Friday, it remains below its long-term average of 20.

* The week's losses were largely driven by news of the first diagnosis of a patient with Ebola in the United States. Protests in Hong Kong added to the tension, with investors worried a protracted period of unrest would weigh on growth in both Hong Kong and China.

* The leader of Hong Kong, Leung Chun-ying, agreed to open talks with the pro-democracy activists, a move that was taken as a sign of progress, though he refused to stand down and violence continued in the city.

* In company news, a Swiss newspaper reported that UBS could face a fine of up to $6.3bn if found guilty in a French investigation into whether it helped wealthy customers there avoid taxes.

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