US STOCKS SNAPSHOT-Wall St slides as dollar rises

NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks reversed course on Monday, turning negative as the U.S. dollar strengthened and commodity prices fell.

Nasdaq losses were kept in check by gains by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

The energy and materials sectors, which had helped lift major indexes more than 1 percent earlier, turned negative.

Bank stocks were among the top decliners after veteran banking analyst Richard Bove said many U.S. regional banks, including Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB.O) and SunTrust Banks Inc (STI.N), may not show a profit until 2011. He downgraded both stocks to "sell" from "neutral."

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 40.21 points, or 0.40 percent, to 9,931.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX dropped 5.01 points, or 0.46 percent, to 1,074.59. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC slipped 0.22 point, or 0.01 percent, to 2,154.25.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)