NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks fell in choppy trade on Thursday as a slide in oil prices hit energy shares, including Dow component Exxon Mobil .
* The drop in commodity shares offset earlier optimism over efforts to jump-start the ailing economy, as well as economic data that was not as weak as feared.
* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 95.97 points, or 1.09 percent, to 8,728.37. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 4.64 points, or 0.51 percent, to 899.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 8.64 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,570.67.
(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by James Dalgleish)
