* October job numbers rise by 261,000 vs est. 310,000 
    * Unemployment rate falls to 4.1 pct from 4.2 pct 
    * Apple's iPhone X goes on sale worldwide 
    * Dow down 0.07 pct, S&P off 0.06 pct, Nasdaq 0.14 pct 
 
 (Changes comment, updates prices) 
    By Sruthi Shankar 
    Nov 3 (Reuters) - The S&P and the Dow were flat in late 
morning trading on Friday after October payrolls data sparked 
concerns about tepid wage growth while a jump in Apple supported 
the tech-heavy Nasdaq. 
    Apple  AAPL.O  gained as robust initial demand for its new 
iPhone X allayed investor worries and strong results a day 
earlier.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N9372     
    The company briefly surpassed $900 billion in market 
capitalization after the stock opened at a record high of $174.  
    The Labor Department's closely watched employment report 
showed that average hourly earnings slipped by one cent in 
October, leaving them unchanged in percentage terms. That 
lowered the year-on-year increase to 2.4 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N81OL 
    "If there's one thing I would focus on, it is the fact 
you're really not seeing the wage inflation," said Heidi 
Learner, chief economist in New York for Savills Studley, a unit 
of Savills Plc. 
    "The wage numbers are becoming increasing more important 
than the monthly payrolls number itself." 
    Tepid wage growth supports the view that inflation will 
continue to undershoot the Fed's 2 percent target and could 
raise concerns about consumer spending. 
    Nonfarm payrolls increased by 261,000 jobs after a 
hurricane-ravaged September, but was below economists' 
expectations for a 310,000 rise.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N81OL 
    At 10:49 a.m. ET (1449 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average  .DJI  was down 15.35 points, or 0.07 percent, at 
23,500.91 and the S&P 500  .SPX  was down 1.44 points, or 0.06 
percent, at 2,578.41. 
    The Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  was up 9.67 points, or 0.14 
percent, at 6,724.61, helped by Apple and Starbucks  SBUX.O . 
    The markets have had a busy week. On Thursday, President 
Donald Trump tapped Fed Governor Jerome Powell as the next head 
of the U.S. central bank and House Republicans disclosed their 
long-delayed plans for tax cuts.    
    The Dow and the Nasdaq were on track to post weekly gains, 
while the S&P was on pace to report a small weekly loss.  
    Starbucks was up 2.6 percent after dipping earlier following 
results a day earlier.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N829E 
    AIG  AIG.N  fell 4.69 percent after the insurer posted a 
bigger loss on huge catastrophe losses and said it set aside 
more in reserves.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N82DP      
    More than three-fourths of the S&P 500 companies have 
reported results, with 72.4 percent topping profit estimates, 
above the 72 percent beat-rate in the past four quarters. 
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,592 
to 1,137. On the Nasdaq, 1,469 issues fell and 1,182 advanced. 
     
 
 (Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj 
Kalluvila) 
 ((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 
8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6328; Reuters Messaging: 
sruthi.shankar.reuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: USA STOCKS/