December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $2 an ounce lower Friday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver is expected to be 20 cents lower. Much of the focus this morning will be on the monthly U.S. employment report. At 7:55 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading down $1.50 to $997.75. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up slightly to $1.4543 from $1.4526 late Thursday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 2.40 points to 1,025. November crude oil is down $1.12 to $69.70 a barrel in overnight activity. September non-farm payrolls are scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). The forecast is for a decline of 175,000 jobs, with the unemployment rate expected to uptick to 9.8% from 9.7% in August. August factory orders are due out at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) and expected to decline 0.6%. In New York Thursday, gold futures declined on a stronger dollar and weakness in other metals and in equities. December gold fell $8.60 to settle at $1,000.70 an ounce, while December silver lost 21.8 cents to $16.440 an ounce. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 297 ounces at 9,297,331 ounces Thursday, while silver stocks were up 7,896 ounces at 115,421,092 ounces.

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