RTRS: Market climbs on auto rescue hope, energy shares
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Dec 10 (Reuters) - U.S stocks rose on Wednesday as investors bet that Washington will provide aid for automakers and rising oil and commodities prices lifted shares of natural resource companies.
Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose 2.5 percent and Exxon Mobil (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) gained 2 percent, while aluminum producer Alcoa (AA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose nearly 6 percent, all propelling the Dow industrials.
But a fresh wave of profit warnings from companies including Eastman Kodak (EK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Electronic Arts (ERTS.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) limited a broad market advance, a day after a stock sell-off halted 2-day rally.
"People are looking at the bailout as a positive," said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey. "(But) The headwinds are just enormous, this market has an awful lot to get through.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 123.61 points, or 1.42 percent, to 8,814.94. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 13.69 points, or 1.54 percent, to 902.36. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added 21.99 points, or 1.42 percent, to 1,569.33.
The White House and congressional Democrats reached an agreement in principle to aid U.S. automakers, including General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Without government help, investors fear that a possible failure or bankruptcy in the auto sector could send shock waves through the economy and worsen unemployment.
Backers of the $15 billion proposal for bailing out U.S. automakers could come to a vote in the House as early as Wednesday, officials said. For details, see [nN09293581]
Shares of GM were up 5 percent to $4.94 on the New York Stock Exchange and Ford gained 2.5 percent to $3.31.
In the energy sector, Chevron rose to $76.94 and Exxon Mobil climbed to $79.49. U.S front-month crude CLc1 was up 5 percent to $44.51 a barrel before a weekly government report on energy stockpiles.
