US STOCKS-S&P 500 set to open higher as falling jobless rate offsets tech slide

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* August nonfarm payrolls rise by 1.37 mln
* Stay-at-home stocks lose ground again
* Shares of U.S. lenders edge higher
* Futures: Dow up 0.62%, S&P up 0.25%, Nasdaq down 0.64%

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By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Sept 4 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 was set for a higher open on
Friday following a brutal selloff in the previous session as a
drop in the unemployment rate offset a slide in technology
stocks, while investors remained cautious about a patchy
economic recovery.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 1.37 million jobs last month
after advancing 1.73 million in July, the Labor Department's
closely watched employment report showed. The unemployment rate
fell to 8.4% from 10.2% in July, steeper than the 9.8% fall
that economists polled by Reuters forecast. Still, the data adds pressure on the White House and
Congress to restart stalled negotiations over the next
coronavirus relief package to lift the economy out of the worst
recession since the Great Depression.
"The data is consistent with an improving labor market that
is helping to support consumption, but remains a long ways away
from pre-COVID-19 levels," said Sameer Samana, senior global
market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
After climbing to record highs on the back of historic
stimulus and a narrow rally in heavyweight technology stocks,
the S&P 500 and Nasdaq suffered their worst day in nearly three
months on Thursday as investors booked gains.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Inc MSFT.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Nvidia Inc NVDA.O , which bore
the brunt of Thursday's losses, extended declines to between 1%
and 4% in premarket trading.
"Today you're seeing participants trying to test whether
yesterday's sell-off is going to turn out to be something that
has more to it or it was just a one-day selling pressure," said
Robert Pavlik, chief investment strategist at SlateStone Wealth
LLC in New York.
Fund managers have warned Thursday's declines may be a
preview of a rocky two months ahead as institutional investors
return from summer vacations and refocus on the potential
economic pitfalls.
The run up to the Nov. 3 presidential election is also
expected to add to volatility. At 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 176 points, or
0.62%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 8.5 points, or 0.25% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 76 points, or 0.64%.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX eased from a 10-week high.
Shares of rate-sensitive bank stocks including Bank of
America Corp BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM.N rose between 1.7% and 2% as the benchmark 10-year
US10YT=RR yield bounced off of a near four-week low. US/