Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures advanced ahead of a government report expected to show that the world's biggest economy added jobs in August.

Home Depot Inc., the largest home-improvement retailer, and Caterpillar Inc., the No. 1 maker of earth-moving machinery, rose in Europe on optimism rebuilding New Orleans will stimulate demand. Exxon Mobil Corp. gained as oil traded at $69 a barrel.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September added 2.6 to 1224.40 as of 9:16 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 24 to 10,486 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 4.5 to 1583.5.

``If we see an in-line or better-than-expected jobs number today, we'll see consumer stocks rising,'' said Jonathan Monk, a fund manager at Aerion Fund Management Ltd. in London, which oversees about $1 billion in U.S. stocks. ``It'll bring the focus back to employment being the most important driver of consumer spending.'' Monk holds less retail stocks than his benchmarks suggest.

Employers probably added 190,000 workers in August, the median economist forecast in a Bloomberg survey shows. That would be the first time this year job gains have exceeded last year's average for two straight months. Hurricane Katrina damage may cost insurance companies $50 billion, the Associated Press said, citing Standard & Poor's. That's double the estimate of some insurance agencies and may stimulate construction demand.

Energy and construction are among the best-performing industries on the S&P 500 in the last five days. The Oil & Gas Exploration & Production index rose 7 percent while the Construction & Engineering measure gained 6 percent.

Oil

Home Depot rose 36 cents to $40.97 in Germany as Caterpillar climbed 44 cents to $57.58. Exxon, the world's biggest oil and natural-gas producer, advanced 30 cents to $61.98.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, gained 10 cents to $45.11.

The unemployment rate probably held at a four-year low of 5 percent for a third month, according to the Bloomberg survey. The Labor Department report is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington.

Crude oil may rise above the record $70.85 a barrel touched this week on concern damage to oil rigs and refineries from Katrina will take months to repair, according to 31 of 61 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Prices surged to $70.85 on Aug. 30, the highest intraday level since trading began in 1983. The contract traded at $69 at 12:35 p.m. Singapore time.

Katrina swept over Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and western Florida on Monday with 140-mile-an-hour winds. Storm surges caused breaks in the levees that protect New Orleans, which lies below sea level, leading to widespread flooding.

Boeing

Shares of Boeing Co. fell 40 cents to $65.60 in Germany. The company's 18,300 machinists went on strike for the first time in 10 years after rejecting the company's wage and benefit offer, shutting down production at the world's biggest aircraft maker.

MGI Pharma Inc. slumped $2.14, or 7.9 percent, to $24.90 and SuperGen Inc. slid 86 cents, or 12 percent in extended trading. The biopharmaceutical companies said U.S. regulators requested more information before approving their experimental Dacogen treatment for a group of fatal blood disorders.

The S&P 500 closed little changed, up 1.26, or 0.1 percent, to 1221.59. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 21.97, or 0.2 percent, to 10,459.63. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 4.19, or 0.2 percent, to 2147.90.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Frankfurt at Cfournier3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 2, 2005 04:34 EDT