U.S. stocks traded slightly lower on Friday, rebounding from early losses, as gains in technology and financial shares helped offset some of the losses brought on by weak monthly employment figures.

Apple Inc led technology bellwethers, rising 2.2 percent after UBS upgraded the stock to buy from neutral.

The major indexes fell nearly 1 percent earlier after a U.S. Labor Department report showed employers cut 263,000 jobs in September, far more than the 180,000 job losses forecast in a Reuters survey.

I'm somewhat surprised at the resilience of the market to the numbers out this morning. It's probably a reflection of some of the extreme weakness we saw yesterday, said Keith Hembre, chief economist at First American Funds in Minneapolis.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 26.60 points, or 0.28 percent, to 9,482.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 4.16 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,025.69. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> shed 4.12 points, or 0.20 percent, to 2,053.36.

Financial shares were generally stronger, with Dow component JPMorgan Chase & Co up 0.8 percent at $41.64.

But signs of a weak economic recovery also came from the chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc , the world's biggest retailer. Rob Walton forecast a slow recovery from challenging U.S. business conditions, while Wal-Mart's Asia operations are a little better.

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

(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

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