RTRS: US STOCKS-GMAC decision, energy stocks lift Wall St
U.S stocks rose on Friday as General Motors (GM.N) shares rallied on news its GMAC affiliate qualified to be a bank holding company while energy stocks got a boost from a rise in oil prices.
GMAC LLC, the financing arm of carmaker General Motors, won Federal Reserve approval on Wednesday to become a bank holding company, giving it access to government lending programs and helping it stave off bankruptcy. For details, see [ID:nN24278654]
The Fed's decision to give GMAC status as a bank holding company and make it eligible for aid under the government's $700 bailout fund removed some uncertainty and eased investors' concerns.
"It was still a question of whether they would get the financing," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey.
"Any time you get an unanticipated event, that's a good thing. It could have easily gone the other way, and then there would have been problems."
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 33.13 points, or 0.39 percent, to 8,501.61. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX gained 1.99 points, or 0.23 percent, to 870.14. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC added just 0.39 of a point, or 0.03 percent, to 1,525.29.
Shares of General Motors, a Dow component, rose almost 15 percent to $3.73. The stock of Ford Motor (F.N) gained 9 percent to $2.30.
U.S. oil futures CLc1 climbed above $36 a barrel on Friday after the United Arab Emirates joined leading exporter Saudi Arabia in deepening supply curbs in line with OPEC's announcement last week of its biggest-ever output cut.
Shares of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) advanced 0.8 percent to $76.41, making it the Dow's top performer.
Apple (AAPL.O) was a bright spot on the Nasdaq after the company said it will begin selling some models of the iPhone at Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) on Sunday. [ID:nN26300444]
Shares of Apple shot up 1.4 percent to $86.21 on Nasdaq while Wal-Mart ticked up 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $55.48 on the NYSE.
Many retailers, meanwhile, were hoping to make up for a dismal holiday shopping period so far by slashing prices in post-Christmas holiday sales to move inventory.
A report from SpendingPulse, a division of MasterCard Advisors, said sales were down 2 percent to 4 percent from a year ago for the full holiday season and declined 8 percent in December alone. [ID:nN14444305]
In contrast, online shopping at some companies was encouraging. Internet retailer Amazon.com (AMZN.O) said the recently completed shopping season was its best ever, with 6.3 million items ordered on its peak day of Dec. 15. [ID:nWNAB5898].
