RTRS: US STOCKS-Wall St flat as energy shares offset automakers
* Energy shares cushion market on higher oil prices
* Jobless data points to worsening labor market
* Dow. S&P 500 down 0.1 pct, Nasdaq sheds 0.3 pct
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on [STXNEWS/US]
(Updates to late morning)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fought back from early losses to trade little changed on Thursday as energy shares advanced on a bullish forecast for oil, offsetting concern about the fate of a U.S. automakers bailout snarled in the Senate.
Shares of Chevron (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) rose 2.4 percent to $80.34, making the stock the Dow's top boost as oil prices rose after the International Energy Agency forecast world oil demand growth would resume in 2009. For details, see [ID:nN11366723].
The $14 billion package of loans for the beleaguered automakers passed the House of Representatives late Wednesday, but faced opposition in the Senate. [ID:nN09294627] A Senate vote on the plan is expected as early as Thursday.
Shares of General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 6.3 percent to $4.31 and Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) slipped 4.3 percent to $3.11 on the New York Stock Exchange.
The economic picture turned darker after the Labor Department said the number of people filing for new unemployment benefits surged to a 26-year high last week as employers shed workers in anticipation of a tough recession.
"We keep thinking the financial crisis is over and one by one we find a new industry that is in dire straights," said Carl Birkelbach, head of Birkelbach Management in Chicago."
"It appears to me that the credit crunch is going to continue and the ramifications will be negative."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI slid 10.99 points, or 0.13 percent, to 8,750.43. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX fell 1.18 points, or 0.13 percent, to 898.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC shed 5.89 points, or 0.38 percent, to 1,559.59.
Boeing (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) also weighed on the market after the plane maker announced further delays for its newest jet. The stock slipped 0.5 percent to $41.48. [ID:nN10345264]
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.
