Wall St edges up on GMAC

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks inched higher in thin volume on Friday as energy shares rose alongside oil and General Motors climbed after its financing arm qualified for government funds, helping it stave off potential bankruptcy.

The Federal Reserve paved the way for GMAC LLC to become a bank holding company on Wednesday, giving it access to government lending programs.

But stocks were unable to make much headway in the holiday shortened week as one of the worst years for Wall Street draws to a close.

"Everyone is hoping for a Santa Claus rally but you look at the underlying data and it's still weak," said Chip Hanlon, president of Delta Global Advisors, Inc. in Huntington Beach, California.

"Retailers are going to be horrendous and news from around the globe continues to weaken. This recession is global and it's deep and, more importantly, it's probably still deepening."

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> rose 24.13 points, or 0.28 percent, to 8,492.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> edged up 2.05 points, or 0.24 percent, at 870.20. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> added 2.44 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,527.34.

The Fed's move to make GMAC, which makes loans available to car buyers, eligible for aid under the government's $700 billion bailout fund removed some uncertainty and eased investors' concerns. Shares of GM jumped 13.2 percent to $3.68, while rival Ford Motor Co stock gained 8.1 percent to $2.28.

U.S. oil futures rose above $37 a barrel on Friday after the United Arab Emirates joined leading exporter Saudi Arabia in increasing supply curbs in line with OPEC's announcement last week of its biggest-ever output cut.

Exxon Mobil was the Dow's biggest boost, gaining 1.2 percent to $76.70, while Chevron Corp was up 0.5 percent at $69.99. The S&P index of energy stocks <.GSPE> rose 1.2 percent.

Amazon.com Inc's stock rose 0.7 percent to $51.82 after the Internet retailer said it had its best holiday shopping season ever.

But shares of semiconductor companies dragged, including computer graphics company Nvidia Corp , which fell 3.8 percent to $7.43. Google Inc was among the top drags on the Nasdaq, slipping 0.9 percent to $300.15.

On the day after Christmas, investors looked for signs of how retailers fared in a shopping season.

The S&P 500 index of retailers <.RLX> slipped 0.3 percent after a report showed U.S. sales fell as much as 4 percent during one of the worst holiday shopping climates in modern times.

Jones Apparel bucked the trend, surging 40.1 percent to $5.45 on the NYSE after the company said it had reduced its $1.25 billion in lines of credit into a single line of $600 million.

(Editing by Kenneth Barry)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky