By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to a solid open on Wall Street on Friday as investors waited for the top-tier nonfarm-payrolls report, expected to show that the labor market rebounded in September.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJZ4) put on 67 points, or 0.4%, to 16,791, while those for the S&P 500 index (SPZ4) climbed 9.50 points, or 0.5%, to 1,948.10. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 index (NDZ4) added 18.25 points, or 0.5%, to 3,996.25.

The strength for futures came after a choppy day on Thursday, when the benchmarks closed around the flatline after swinging wildly between gains and losses throughout the day.

Data: Nonfarm-payrolls data -- one of the most closely watched monthly releases -- is due out at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists are expecting an upbeat reading on the state of the U.S. labor market. Analysts polled by MarketWatch forecast that 220,000 new jobs were added to the economy in September, much better than the disappointing 142,000 jobs that were created in August. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 6.1%. Read: Rebounding jobs growth seen in September

A strong reading could be met with a selloff in the stock markets, as it would strengthen the case for the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy.

An update on the U.S. trade deficit for August is also due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time, followed by the September ISM nonmanufacturing reading at 10 a.m. Eastern.

Movers: Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) could be on the move after the bank late Thursday said about 76 million households were affected by a previously disclosed cybersecurity breach.

WellPoint Inc. (WLP) could also be active after the health-care company on Thursday said it is increasing its share-repurchasing program by $5 billion.

General Motors Co. (GM.XX) is recalling 117,651 vehicles to fix a faulty chassis-control system that may result in a crash, Automotive News reported late Thursday.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. (KKD) was in the spotlight too, after the that Chief Financial Officer Douglas Muir will retire in 2015. Muir will remain until a successor is named.

Other markets: Asian markets closed mostly in positive territory, and European markets rebounded after a sharp selloff on Thursday. The dollar recovered some ground after a sharp slide over the past two sessions. Oil futures climbed, while most metals declined.

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