US STOCKS-Wall St flat; broker upgrades offset jobs data

                                
  
                                
 * Brokerage upgrades offset data; GE up more than 7 pct
                                
 * U.S. unemployment rate highest in more than 26 yrs
                                
 * Dow flat, S&P 500 up 0.1 pct, Nasdaq up 0.1 pct
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news, click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Updates to afternoon, changes byline)
                                
 By Chuck Mikolajczak
                                
 NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks barely budged in a
choppy trading session on Friday, lifted by several broker
upgrades that offset disappointing data showing the
unemployment rate rose to its highest in more than 26 years.
                                
 General Electric Co <GE.N> jumped 6.4 percent to $15.36
after two analysts' upgrades and helped push the industrial
sector higher. The S&P industrial index <.GSPI> was up 1.1
percent.
                                
 The market fell at the open and briefly turned positive
after closer inspection of the report showed payroll losses
kept declining and job losses for earlier months were revised
lower. For details, see [ID:nN06178752].
                                
 "GE got upgraded, which I thought was astonishing -- how
bold," said Cummins Catherwood, managing director at Boenning
and Scattergood in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
                                
 "But the trend is better -- most of the stuff we see is
more positive than negative, or at least less negative than it
might have been."
                                
 The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 2.04
points, or 0.02 percent, to 10,008.00. The Standard & Poor's
500 Index <.SPX> added 0.78 of a point, or 0.07 percent, to
1,067.41. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 2.28 points,
or 0.11 percent, to 2,107.60.
                                
 Bernstein Research and Oppenheimer upgraded their ratings
on GE to "outperform" as they believe there will be major
divestitures over the next two to three years. They also see a
favorable entry point after the stock underperformed since the
middle of October. [ID:nN06538139]
                                
 Travelers Cos Inc <TRV.N> gave thebiggest boost to the
Dow. Shares of Travelers rose 2.3 percent to $51.79 after
Goldman Sachs upgraded the insurer's stock along with XL
Capital <XL.N>, which rose 3.1 percent to $17.10, to "buy"
from "neutral". [ID:nBNG422402]
                                
 The KBW Insurance index <.KIX> added 0.8 percent.
                                
 But bailed-out insurer American International Group Inc
<AIG.N> tumbled 9.1 percent to $35.71 after it said its main
insurance business remained weak. [ID:nN06174086]
                                
 Amazon.com Inc <AMZN.O> jumped 4.5 percent at $126.00
after Bernstein upgraded the stock to "outperform" on the
belief the company will continue to see growth and margin
expansion in the future. [ID:nBNG425822]
                                
 JP Morgan raised Macy's Inc <M.N> to "overweight" from
"neutral," citing improving monthly comparable-store sales at
the department store operator and a potential for earnings
upside. The stock was up 6.3 percent at $19.16.
                                
 The S&P retailer index <.RLX> climbed 1.6 percent.
 (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)