U.S. equity futures edged lower in early Friday trading, while Treasury yields and the dollar held steady, as investors braced for a critical January jobs report that could define market direction over the coming weeks.

Trading on Wall Street is mixed and subdued with the arrival of more quarterly financial reports from major corporations and new data on the U.S. jobs market due over the final two days of the week. Futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrials shifted between tiny gains and losses before the bell Thursday,

Asian shares are trading mostly higher after a Wall Street rally that followed profit reports from major companies