U.S. stocks declined on Friday, though brokers' positive comments on companies in the tech and bank sectors partially offset weaker-than-expected jobs data.

Tech stocks got a boost after UBS upgraded Apple Inc to buy from neutral and pushed its price target on the stock up 56 percent. Apple shares gained 2.5 percent to $185.46.

Major indexes fell nearly 1 percent in early trading after a Labor Department report showed that employers cut 263,000 jobs in September, far more than the 180,000 job losses that had been expected.

The data also showed the U.S. unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent in September, up from August's 9.7 percent rate. Please see graphic: http://graphics.thomsonreuters.com/109/US_UNEMPL1009.gif

The market's resilience primarily has to do with the fact that we've had several pullbacks since the FOMC comments last Wednesday, said Henry Smith, chief investment officer at Haverford Trust Co in Philadelphia.

There's general disappointment with the data, but employment is a lagging indicator and it won't surprise anyone that it's going to be the last to recover. The data was priced in, for the most part.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dipped 10.50 points, or 0.11 percent, to 9,498.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 2.86 points, or 0.28 percent, to 1,026.99. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> shed 4.05 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,053.43.

Financial shares were generally stronger, after KBW upgraded both BB&T Corp and US Bancorp to outperform from market perform and raised its view on small and mid-cap banks.

BB&T gained 4.4 percent to $26.66 while US Bancorp was up 1.1 percent to $21.34.

A downbeat note came from General Electric , which slid 2.6 percent to $15.55 after the Dow component's chief executive said GE was holding discussions on partnerships or an initial public offering for its NBC Universal unit.

Wal-Mart Stores shares edged up 0.2 percent to $49.08 after the company's chairman said it saw a slow recovery from challenging U.S. business conditions while its Asia operations were a little harder.

Market reaction was muted to new orders received by U.S. factories, which posted their first drop in five months in August, going against Wall Street's expectations.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

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