US STOCKS-Wall St flat as financials offset weak data
Reuters* Financial shares bounce, including Lehman
* Bank may have buyers for real estate holdings
* Nokia's warns on outlook for mobile phones
* Dow flat, S&P 500 off 0.2 pct, Nasdaq down 0.3 pct
(Updates to early afternoon)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were littlechanged in volatile trade Friday as a bounce in financialshares offset concerns about the economy after a bleak labormarket report.
Among financial shares that rebounded was Lehman Brothers, whichrose more than 5 percent to $15.97. BlackstoneGroup LPand Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Coareeach looking to buy parts of Lehman's real estate and assetmanagement units, sources familiar with the situation toldReuters.
Lehman's real estate unit could be worth about $5 billion.
The day started with a negative tone after government datashowed the unemployment rate soared to 6.1 percent last month-- nearly a five-year high -- from 5.7 percent in July.
But by midday the market cut its losses as the beaten-downfinancial sector headed higher, benefiting from money beingpulled out of the energy and technology sectors.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 8.87 points,or 0.08 percent, to 11,179.36. The Standard & Poor's 500 Indexdeclined 2.87 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,233.96. TheNasdaq Composite Index shed 6.99 points, or 0.31percent, to 2,252.05.
JPMorgan Chase, the No. 3 U.S. bank, was the topboost to the S&P 500, rising 3.4 percent to $39.19.
The S&P financial index climbed 1.6 percent.
Even so, caution about the economy's outlook persisted andkept technology and energy shares on the defensive.
"There's been a strong contingent of economists who havebeen feeling that the economy was going to avoid a recession,"said Sasha Kostadinov, portfolio manager and research analystat Shaker Investments in Cleveland, Ohio.
"I think now those people who have been holding out arethrowing their beliefs out the window. We've got a softeconomy, credit is tight and the consumer is reallystruggling."
A warning from Nokia that it expects to lose market sharehit other technology bellwethers, including Qualcomm,BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and Apple.
Energy shares were another drag, with Exxon Mobil,down nearly 1 percent, as investors feared that the specter ofslowing growth in the United States and abroad would result inless demand for energy. (Editing by Kenneth Barry)