* October job numbers rise by 261,000 vs est. 310,000 
    * Unemployment rate falls to 4.1 pct from 4.2 pct 
    * Apple briefly surpasses $900 bln in market cap 
    * Indexes up: Dow 0.12 pct, S&P 0.19 pct, Nasdaq 0.44 pct 
 
 (Updates to early afternoon) 
    By Sruthi Shankar 
    Nov 3 (Reuters) - The three major Wall Street indexes came 
off their session lows in early afternoon trading on Friday as 
Apple hit a record high on strong demand for its latest iPhone X 
and an upbeat holiday sales forecast. 
    Lines formed outside Apple  AAPL.O  stores around the world 
as fans flocked to buy the iPhone X, helping allay concerns that 
 supply issues might stop the company from satisfying early 
demand.  
    The shares jumped as much as 3.7 percent and helped Apple 
briefly surpass $900 billion in market capitalization.  
    The market traded in a narrow range after October jobs data 
triggered worries about weak wage growth. Average hourly 
earnings slipped by one cent last month, lowering the 
year-on-year increase to 2.4 percent.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N81OL 
    U.S. jobs increased by 261,000 last month after a 
hurricane-ravaged September, but was below economists' 
expectations for a 310,000 rise.  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 Federal Reserve's 2-percent target 
and could raise concerns about consumer spending.    
    At 12:30 p.m. ET (1630 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial 
Average  .DJI  was up 29.06 points, or 0.12 percent, at 
23,545.32, the S&P 500  .SPX  was up 5.01 points, or 0.19 
percent, at 2,584.86. The Nasdaq Composite  .IXIC  was up 29.85 
points, or 0.44 percent, at 6,744.79. 
    The three indexes were on track to record gains for the 
week, which was packed with major events including the 
nomination of a new Fed chief and the unveiling of the 
long-awaited tax-cut plans by Republicans.  
    The market has been supported by largely positive 
third-quarter earnings. Of the 406 S&P 500 companies that have 
reported, 72.4 percent have topped profit estimates, slightly 
above the 72 percent beat-rate in the past four quarters.   
    Starbucks was up 3.33 percent following results. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N829E 
    AIG  AIG.N  fell 4.72 percent after the insurer posted a 
bigger loss on huge catastrophe losses.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N1N82DP 
    Declining issues outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 1,516 
to 1,284. On the Nasdaq, 1,435 issues fell and 1,383 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/