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By Kate Gibson

U.S. stocks turned lower on Monday afternoon after a short-lived attempt in positive territory as investors shifted through December sales results from automakers which, while poor, were not as awful as many had expected.

After closing at an eight-week high Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) was down 108.72 points, or 1.2%, at 8,925.97.

Twenty-one of the Dow's 30 components remained mired in the red, with Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) fronting the declines, its shares lately off 7.9% in the wake of its downgrade by Bernstein Research.

Shares of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) also slumped, down 5% after Deutsche Bank cut its estimates on the bank. .

The S&P 500 (SPX) gained 5.91 points to 925.89, with energy, consumer discretionary and materials leading the advance that included all but two of the index's 10 industry groups.

Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD)and Peabody Energy Group Corp. (BTU) fronted gains among energy companies, both rising about 8%.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) declined 10.28 points, or 0.6%, to 1,621.93, with tech stocks dipping even as Apple Inc. shares rose after CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged health problems but said he would stay on as the company's chief executive. .

Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL) gained 3.9% after Jobs said he is undergoing treatment for a hormone imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. Jobs made his comments in an open letter to the Apple community. .

In an abrupt move, Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) said CEO dick Bond has stepped down from his post at the big meat producer. Tyson shares were off 7.6% in afternoon trade. .

On Capitol Hill, President-elect Barack Obama is meeting with congressional leaders of both parties as he tries to shore up support for his economic-stimulus package and about $300 billion in tax cuts. .

On Friday, the Labor Department is expected to report a decline of 500,000 jobs in December, which would translate into a loss of more than 2 million jobs for 2008.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 811 million, and advancing issues overtook those declining nearly 2 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 455 million shares traded, and advancers and decliners ran about even.

Driven

End-of-the-year results from the auto industry proved dismal, but investors expected worse. Shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) gained 4.9% after it reported a 32.4% drop in December sales; General Motors Corp. (GM) rose 4.4% after GM said sales fell 31% last month. .

"This is good news in the sense that it suggest the industry may finally be stabilizing after hemorrhaging for much of this year," said analysts at Action Economics.

Economic data were also Less grim than anticipated, with the Commerce Department reporting that construction spending fell 0.6% in November.

J.P. Morgan raised its rating on Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) to overweight from neutral. Shares of the online retailer were off 1.6%.

Oil futures rallied to one-month highs, with crude for February delivery up $2.47, or 5.3%, to end at $48.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Elsewhere on the NYME, gold futures closed down $21.7, or 2.5%, at $857.8 an ounce.

The dollar index (DXY), a measure of the greenback against rival currencies, held steady at 82.654, up 1%. .

Treasury prices were mixed after the Federal Reserve said it had begun buying mortgage-backed securities. .

Overseas, Asian markets shot higher, with Japanese stocks taking the lead.

European shares also gained, with telecom, utility and oil equities among the strongest performers. .

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