U.S. stock index futures little changed, payrolls awaited

FRANKFURT, June 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock market index futures were little changed before the start of Wall Street trading on Friday with the focus on May unemployment data due at 1230 GMT.

Lehman Brothers LEH.N was also in the spotlight after CNBC television reported that the investment bank was considering announcing earnings a week early to calm market concern about its finances. Lehman declined to comment.

At 0950 GMT, Dow Jones futures DJc1 were down 0.02 percent, S&P 500 futures SPc1 traded 0.1 percent lower and Nasadaq futures NDc1 also fell 0.1 percent.

"With no corporate events scheduled for release today, the focus will be on the job market data," German bank Helaba said in a note.

Economists polled by Reuters expect on average that 58,000 jobs were lost in May compared with 20,000 in April.

"More job losses are expected as a result of tighter credit conditions," Citigroup said in a note.

"The real issue will be how much of that is determined by the decisions of corporate management over the next few months as, in all probability, international business slows and the U.S. industrial economy weakens," it said.

"This possible second wave is not being discounted in markets," it added.

Commerzbank said the time could be right to buy U.S. stocks.

"The ratio of put to call options in the U.S. equity market fell from 1.22 to 0.89 between mid-March and mid-May. The indicator has now risen back to 0.98. We would consider anywhere above 1.0 as a signal for increasing equity exposure," Commerzbank said in a research note.

FINANCIAL WOES

Lehman's Frankfurt-listed shares LHMH.F were up 3.8 percent at 0950 GMT, but analysts said financial industry woes looked likely to plague markets for some time to come.

"We should not expect the flood of bad news from the financial industry to be over soon," Italian bank UniCredit said in a note.

Citing fragile credit markets, negative news from the financial sector and high inflation, LandesBank Berlin said it expects "continued volatility and trendless stock markets in the near term."

This week, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet voiced concern about rising inflation, and Credit Suisse said central bank action could spell trouble for equity markets.

"The real worry is that Fed Chairman Bernanke has clearly signalled that the U.S. is not willing to tolerate the inflationary consequences of a weaker dollar," the Swiss bank said in a global equity strategy note.

"If the euro were to strengthen the U.S. would raise rates to support the dollar," Credit Suisse said, adding: "It was the spat over currencies between Fed Chairman Greenspan and Bundesbank President Tietmeyer which led to the stock market crash of 1987."

Three top Fed officials are scheduled to speak on Friday: Federal Reserve Governor Governor Randall Kroszner at 1245 GMT, Chicago Fed President at 1515 GMT and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard at 1630 GMT.

On Thursday U.S. stocks saw their biggest gains in more than a month after Wal-Mart (WMT.N) and other retailers posted stronger-than-expected May sales and data showed a surprising fall in weekly jobless claims.

The Dow Jones .DJI gained 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 .SPX 2 percent and the Nasdaq IXIC> 1.9 percent. Advancing stocks led declining ones by almost 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by 3 to 1 on the Nasdaq.