S&P and Nasdaq gain, but energy hits Dow

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Friday after the U.S. government said it would throw a $17.4 billion lifeline to automakers grappling with falling consumer demand.

But the Dow ended lower, pulled down by another fall in energy shares, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil as oil sank for the sixth day in a row on fears the anemic economy will swamp demand.

"It's relief for the markets," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management in Bedford Hills, New York, in reference to the auto sector's bailout. "There was a feeling it was on the way. It is being dealt with and not in a way that opens up the pocketbook and says, 'Take what you need.'"

Initial optimism over the government's bridge loan to the automakers, which sent stocks up as much as 2 percent, faded as investors digested terms of the bailout that give them a relatively short period of time to repair their problems.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 25.88 points, or 0.30 percent, to end at 8,579.11. But the Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 2.60 points, or 0.29 percent, to 887.88. And the Nasdaq Composite Index added 11.95 points, or 0.77 percent, to close at 1,564.32.

Over the last three days, the Dow has fallen 3.9 percent. For the month so far, the Dow is down 2.8 percent.

For the week, the Dow fell 0.7 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.5 percent.

The Nasdaq was the best-performing index, after Oracle Corp and Research in Motion