US stocks are expected to face a volatile week as Wall Street awaits a key government jobs report expected to show unemployment at elevated levels.

The government will release the July employment report on Friday with most analysts expecting non-farm payrolls to fall by as much as 87,000 in July and the unemployment rate to edge up to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent at present.

Unemployment remains the biggest concern of President Barack Obama, who is facing an uphill battle to lift the fortunes of his Democratic Party in congressional elections in November.

Latest government data Friday showed economic growth rate easing to 2.4 percent in the second quarter from a revised 3.7 percent in the first three months of the year, stoking fears that recovery from recession is losing steam.

Over the week, the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 percent to end Friday at 10,465.94.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index fell 0.7 percent to 2,254.70 while the broader S&P 500 index slipped 0.1 percent to 1,101.60.

But the indexes put up a superb performance in July, with the Dow skyrocketing 7.1 percent its heftiest monthly gain in a year, the Nasdaq index up 6.9 percent and the S&P 500 also adding 6.9 percent its best monthly rally since July 2009.

Second quarter company earnings news and economic data are expected to continue moving the market in the week ahead.

Aside from the job data, the closely followed ISM manufacturing index is expected to slide down slightly, while the ISM services index may remain unchanged for July.

Construction spending is also expected to end the second quarter on a downbeat note while real consumer spending just barely chinned the bar in June.

Government revisions on previous quarter GDP data showed Friday that the recession that struck in December 2007 was deeper than previously thought, with the worst economic contraction at 6.8 percent in the final quarter of 2008.

Obama admitted more work needs to be done, but stressed the economy was on the right path, pointing to four consecutive quarters of growth.

European market

European stock markets closed lower on Friday after weaker-than-expected US growth figures stirred concern about the strength of the economic recovery, dealers said.

The figures showed the US economy grew 2.4 percent in the second quarter, short of forecasts for 2.5 percent and down from a revised 3.7 percent in the first.

They also showed that the recession was much deeper than previously thought and that a rise in demand boosted imports at the expense of domestic production, complicating the government's policy options. Company results continued to be mostly positive.

In London, the London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed down 1.05 percent at 5,258.02 points. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 0.24 percent to 3,643.14 points and in Frankfurt the DAX dropped 0.22 percent to 6,147.97 points. In Paris.

Elsewhere in Europe, Amsterdam lost 0.45 percent, Brussels was down 0.58 percent, Madrid dropped 1.50 percent, Milan shed 0.36 percent and Swiss stocks were off 0.32 percent.

Asian market

Asian markets mostly declined Friday after a sluggish finish on Wall Street, with Japanese shares particularly hit hard as a strong yen dragging down most exporters despite upbeat results from blue chips such as Sony Corp. The Nikkei Stock Average fell 1.6% to 9,537.30 in Tokyo.

China's Shanghai Composite dropped 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gave up 0.3%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7%, South Korea's Kospi declined 0.7% and Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.5%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 43 points in screen trade. Japanese exporters were broadly beaten down on concern a strong yen would hurt their repatriated earnings.

Sharp Corp. dropped 2.2% and Hitachi lost 2.0%, while Nintendo Co. gave up 1.8% after it reported a quarterly loss on Thursday.

Nissan Motor erased early gains to end 0.7%lower, although it swung back into the black in the April-June period, posting a Y106.65 billion net profit. Panasonic Corp. jumped 6.0% on dip-buying after a heavy sell off Thursday on dilution fears over its plan to turn subsidiaries Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works into wholly owned units. Sony Corp. surged 3.6% after it surprised analysts with a rebound to profitability in the fiscal first quarter.

The company raised its full year earnings forecasts, spurred by the strength of its electronics business. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics fell 2.1% in Seoul, although the company reported a record quarterly net profit of KRW4.28 trillion in the second quarter, up from KRW2.33 trillion a year earlier.

Posco fell 4.1% on speculation that the world's No. 4 steel maker by output was under government pressure to cut its steel product prices in the second half and not pass an increase in raw materials costs to customers. A Posco spokesman called the market rumors groundless.

In Sydney, Macquarie Group fell 3.1% after it warned profits from its three biggest divisions will fall in the current financial year unless market conditions improve. BHP Billiton fell 0.8% and Rio Tinto slipped 1.2%, despite a 0.8% rise in London Metal Exchange copper prices overnight.

Shares of Aluminum Corp. of China, jumped 6.7% in Shanghai and 2.5% in Hong Kong, after the metals company announced a $1.35 billion agreement to buy a 44.65% stake in Rio Tinto's Simandou iron-ore project in Guinea.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings rose 0.7% and HongKong Electric Holdings added 0.6% after the two jointly announced that a consortium of companies controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing plans to buy Electricite de France's electricity distribution networks in the U.K. and is in talks to finalize the deal. The offer by the CKI-led consortium is subject to final acceptance from EDF.

Chinese shares fell on profit taking in banks, amid concerns over a glut of banking shares after China Everbright Bank said it will pre-market its initial public offering, which could raise up to CNY20 billion next week, and is set to debut on the Shanghai board on August 18. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Agricultural Bank of China dropped 1.1% and 1.4%, respectively in Shanghai.

Commodities and metals

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange extended their rally Friday, closing higher for a third consecutive session after a better than expected report on U.S. business conditions kept the recent rebound in optimism alive.

The complex had a weak start to the day after a bout of selling by Chinese participants overnight, but the metals began their climb as London trade began, quickly recovering their losses.

The rally hit a bump early in the afternoon when lower than expected U.S. gross domestic product figures were released, showing the value of goods and services rose at an annualized seasonally adjusted rate of 2.4% in April to June, from an upwardly revised 3.7% in the first quarter.

The report bolstered demand for safe assets and subsequently benefited spot gold, which pushed up from an intraday low of $1,166 a troy ounce to trade around $1,178/oz.

Base metals, however, were quick to recover and were boosted in particular by the closely watched survey of Chicago area purchasing managers, which showed an acceleration in U.S. business activity in July.

Crude oil prices reversed higher and closed the week near $79 a barrel on Friday, notching their best month since March. The crude contract for September delivery added 59 cents, or 0.8%, to $78.95 a barrel in electronic trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Oil futures gained 4.4% in July, oil's best month since March and its second consecutive monthly gain. Gold futures rose modestly Friday, as a government report showed a slower pace of economic growth for the U.S. and as bottom fishers sought the precious metal at recently lowered prices.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, added $12.70, or 1.1%, to $1,183.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front month, thinly traded August contract also gained, up $13.30, or 1.1%, to $1,181.70 an ounce. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) rose 1.1%.