* GE jumps 11 pct after backing dividend payout plan
* GM falls after dismal November sales
* Dow up 0.6 pct, S&P and Nasdaq up 1 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Updates to late afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as
investors scooped up beaten-down shares after Monday's sell-off
and news that bellwether General Electric <GE.N> would keep its
dividend unchanged in a tough economy.
But stocks pared gains after General Motors <GM.N> reported
U.S. vehicle sales declined by 41 percent in November. For
details, see []
The focus remained on bargain hunting on financial services
shares and the energy sector.
GE shares rose nearly 11 percent and gave the biggest boost
to the Dow industrials.
"People are looking at GE and saying, hey well the dividend
yield is pretty good and they are sticking with their earnings
estimates, although it's at the lower end," said Cummins
Catherwood, managing director at Boenning & Scattergood in West
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania.
Energy stocks, currently the cheapest S&P sector in
relation to earnings, rebounded despite a dip in oil prices to
below $48 a barrel. Chevron <CVX.N> gained nearly 4 percent to
$74.79 while Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> climbed over 3 percent to
$76.59.
Financial stocks, after suffering their worst one-day loss
on record on Monday, also rallied after Federal Reserve
Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled on Monday that policy-makers
were determined to stabilize the economy and markets.
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 52.33 points,
or 0.64 percent, at 8,201.42. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> gained 9.18 points, or 1.12 percent, at 825.39. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 18.53 points, or 1.33
percent, at 1,416.60.
The market was climbing back from Monday's slide when the
S&P 500 fell to a level testing 11-year lows.
GE shares climbed to $17.02 on the New York Stock Exchange
after the company narrowed its earnings forecast but kept them
in-line with analysts estimates and reiterated its plan to
maintain a dividend payout in 2009 while it attempts to
restructure its finance arm, GE Capital. []
GM shares fell to $4.51, while Ford rose 2 percent to
$2.60.
Executives of the big-three U.S. automakers, including
Chrysler, are due to present Washington with their plans to
justify a $25 billion bailout as worries about possible
bankruptcy persist.
As part of its plan, Ford said it expected its overall and
North American automotive business to break even or be
profitable in 2011 and did not anticipate a liquidity crisis
next year, barring a bankruptcy of one of its domestic rivals.
[]
Even so, worries about the deepening economic slump fueled
some caution, along with a broker downgrade of diversified
manufacturer 3M Co <MMM.N>, down 5 percent at $59.23.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
