Wall Street futures pointed moderately higher pre-bell Friday as traders awaited the national jobs report and monitored developments in the Persian Gulf.

In the futures, the S&P 500 rose 0.2%, the Nasdaq inclined 0.4% and the Dow Jones was up 0.1%.

The July employment bulletin from Washington is slated for an 8:30 am ET release, and will offer a window into how domestic labor markets are faring during a period of higher oil prices.

The VanEck Semiconductor fund (SMH) gained 1% pre-bell, while West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded down 0.7%, at $76.79 a barrel, in morning hours.

Asian exchanges traded unevenly overnight, with Hong Kong and Shanghai rising after a strong July international trade report from Beijing.

European bourses tracked moderately north midday on the continent, again testing all-time highs.

Akamai Technologies (AKAM) traded up 13.2% after the AI- and cloud-computing outfit reported Q2 financial results modestly above expectations, but also disclosed a $600 million, four-year agreement with a new customer to provide cloud infrastructure for robotics development.

On the economic calendar, in addition to the jobs report, is the weekly Baker Hughes oil-and-gas rig count at 1 pm.

Federal Reserve Richmond Thomas Barkin is slated to speak on Friday.

In pre-market action, bitcoin traded at $64,813, and 10-year US Treasuries offered 4.66%. Spot gold commanded $4,315 an ounce.