Reuters) - * Stock futures pointed to a mixed start on Friday, as investors await key non-farm payrolls data. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average were up 0.3 and 0.4 percent, respectively, and those for the Nasdaq were down 0.6 percent.
Highlights:
* Companies reporting earnings on Friday include Brown-Forman Corporation (BFb.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Big Lots (BIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
* U.S. non-farm payrolls data for November is due at 1330 GMT (8:30 a.m. EST). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast 340,000 jobs were lost in the month, compared with a loss of 240,000 jobs in October.
* Data on U.S. consumer credit for October is due at 2000 GMT (3 p.m. EST). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast consumer credit to rise by $2 billion versus a $6.86 billion increase in September.
* Shares in General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (GM.F: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Ford Motor co (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (F.F: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) were down 2.9 and 4.9 percent, respectively, in Frankfurt, as executives of the cash-starved auto industry pursued their quest for a government bailout.
* Oil was steady around $44, near its lowest level in almost four years, with eyes turning to the psychologically important $40 level as a widening economic slowdown gnaws into oil demand.
* Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (CVX.F: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which was one of the top drags on the Dow on Thursday, tracking falling oil prices, was down 2.6 percent in Frankfurt by 0909 GMT.
* On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI shed 2.5 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 2.9 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC was 3.1 percent lower.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, editing by Will Waterman)
