NEW YORK, March 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday, with the Dow Jones average dropping below 6,500 for the first time in 12 years in the day's trading.

    The U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday that U.S. payrolls dropped by 651,000 in February, sending the unemployment rate to 8.1 percent, the highest since December 1983.

    Already battered banking sector remained weak. Wells Fargo & Co. rebounded on Friday after it said it would slash dividend to 5 cents from 34 cents, which would help the company save 5 billion U.S. dollars annually.

    Earlier this week, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and U.S. Bancorp also decided to cut their dividends.

    Shares of Apple, the iPod and iPhone maker, dragged down the Nasdaq on Friday after JPMorgan cut its price target and profit views for the second quarter this year.

    The Dow Jones industrial average was up 32.50 points, or 0.49 percent, to 6,626.94 after hitting a new 12-year low of 6,469.95. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.83 point, or 0.12 percent, to 683.38. The Nasdaq composite index dropped 5.74 points, or 0.44percent, to 1,293.85.

    Wall Street has been tumbling this week. Major indexes plunged more than 4 percent on Thursday as market speculated that General Motors Corp. may face bankruptcy and financial shares sank on downgrading worries.