U.S. payrolls data is due out at 1230 GMT. The data is expected to show employers added 113,000 jobs to their payrolls in September, according to a Reuters poll of economists. However, that would likely be too few to lower the nation's 8.1 percent jobless rate, which is seen rising to 8.2 percent.

New York Federal Reserve Board Governor Elizabeth Duke also addresses an event in New York at 1700 GMT, while Washington Treasury Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Jan Eberly holds a briefing on the September 2012 Employment Data and Economic Recovery.

U.S. ELECTIONS: A day after a muted performance in a presidential debate, U.S. President Barack Obama fought back against Republican rival Mitt Romney on Thursday and the Democrat's re-election campaign vowed to learn lessons from the setback.

FED RESERVE: The United States faces a debt problem, but any suggestion that the burden can be eased by allowing inflation to rise will just result in higher borrowing costs in the future, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

SPRINT NEXTEL (S.N): Sprint Nextel Corp is considering making a rival bid for MetroPCS Communications Inc (PCS.N), which agreed on Wednesday to a merger with Deutsche Telekom AG's (DTEGn.DE) T-Mobile USA, according to people familiar with the situation.

PFIZER (PFE.N): Pfizer Ltd (PFIZ.NS), the India unit of U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc, will challenge the country's patent office for revoking a patent for its cancer drug Suten.

APPLE (AAPL.O): Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) reported a record quarterly profit of $7.3 billion, nearly double last year's figure, as strong sales of high-end TVs and Galaxy smartphones more than offset reduced orders for chips and screens from Apple Inc (AAPL.O), its main rival and leading customer.

APOLLO GLOBAL (APOL.O): Apollo Global Management LLC APO.N is proposing a merger of its Core Media Group and Endemol, the TV production house behind "Big Brother", the Wall Street Journal reported.

European shares traded slightly higher on Friday, keeping within their recent range, as expectations for a sentiment boost from U.S. macro data day partly offset lingering concerns about crisis-struck Europe.

Japan's Nikkei average hit a one-week high on Friday, lifted by gains in some battered cyclical stocks, but Nikon Corp tumbled on reports of poor earnings and carmakers were sold off on concern about plummeting sales in China.

BANK OF JAPAN: The Bank of Japan resisted political pressure for action and kept monetary policy steady on Friday, but left the door open to more monetary easing later this month by striking a pessimistic note on the state of the world's third-largest economy.

The S&P 500 extended gains to a fourth day on Thursday, putting it on the cusp of a new five-year high if Friday's jobs report shows encouraging signs for the labor market.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 80.75 points, or 0.6 percent, to 13,575.36 at the close. The S&P 500 .SPX rose 10.41 points, or 0.72 percent, to 1,461.40. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 14.23 points, or 0.45 percent, to end at 3,149.46.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta/Chris Pizzey, London MPG Desk, +44 (0)207 542-4441)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency