Wall Street gains at end of choppy session on bets that the automakers will get help after all.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks rose Friday, ending a choppy session higher, as investors welcomed the Treasury Department's indication it might step in and bail out the troubled automakers after a $14 billion bill collapsed in the Senate.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 0.8%. The Standard & Poor's 500 (SPX) index climbed 0.7% and the Nasdaq composite (COMP) gained 2.2%.
For the week, the Dow and S&P 500 ended with modest losses and the Nasdaq posted a slim gain.
Stocks slumped Thursday on fears that the $14 billion auto rescue bill would lose traction in the Senate. Those concerns proved correct. Negotiations fell apart Thursday night, with Democrats, Republicans, the individual companies and the United Auto Workers union unable to reach a compromise.
But on Friday, the White House said it would consider using some of the money set aside to help banks and Wall Street for bailing out the auto industry. The Bush administration said it could access the $700 billion bailout already approved by Congress, known as the Troubled Asset Recovery Program or TARP.
The Treasury Department, which regulates TARP, said in a statement that it was willing to use the money as a short-term solution "until Congress reconvenes and acts to address the long-term viability of the industry."
"It seems like they are at least going to put the automakers in intensive care with an IV drip and keep them alive until the new administration takes over," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Financial Services Group.
"I think the stock market sees that as both good and bad news," Stone said. "This will help, but there's still no real closure."
Experts say the failure of any one of the Big Three could trigger massive job losses and send the U.S. deeper into recession. Automaker shares seesawed through the session. In afternoon trading, GM (GM, Fortune 500) fell 4.3% and Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) rose 3.5%.
Economy: In addition to the automakers, investors were focused on the day's slew of economic reports.
Retail sales fell 1.8% in November, after falling 2.9% in the previous month. Economists thought sales would fall 2% on average, according to a Briefing.com survey. Sales excluding volatile autos dropped 1.6% after declining a revised 2.4% in the previous month. Economists expected sales excluding autos to slump 1.8%.
The Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of wholesale inflation, dropped 2.2% in November after falling 2.8% in October. Economists thought PPI would slide 2%. The so-called CORE PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1% as expected after gaining 0.4% in the previous month.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index rose to 59.1 from 55.3, versus the consensus estimate of 54.5.
Business inventories fell 0.6% in October, the government reported, versus forecasts for a slide of 0.2%. Inventories fell a revised 0.4% in September.
The U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, according to a National Bureau of Economic Research report released last week. A majority of top-level executives think the recession will last at least another year, according to a recent Duke University survey.
Company news: Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) said late Thursday that it will cut up to 35,000 jobs over the next three years as a result of its purchase of Merrill Lynch and the weak economy. Shares were little changed.
A variety of technology shares bounced, including big cap names Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500).
Market breadth was mixed. On the New York Stock Exchange, losers beat winners two to one on volume of 1.43 billion shares. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners seven to six on volume of 1.92 billion shares.
Bonds: Treasury prices rallied, lowering the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.58% from 2.60% Thursday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The 10-year yield dipped below 3% in November for the first time since the note was first issued in 1962.
Lending rates improved modestly. The 3-month Libor rate slipped to 1.92% from 2% Thursday, according to Bloomberg. The overnight Libor held steady at a record low of 0.12%. Libor is a key bank lending rate.
Other markets: In global trading, Asian and European markets ended lower.
The dollar fell versus the euro and the yen.
U.S. light crude oil for January delivery fell $1.70 to settle at $46.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for February delivery fell $6.10 to $820.50 an ounce.
Gasoline continued its fall to four-year lows, with prices down eight-tenths of a cent to a national average of $1.656 a gallon, according to a survey of credit-card swipes released Friday by motorist group AAA. Prices have been sliding for almost three months and have dropped more than $2 a gallon, or 57%, since the July high of $4.114 a gallon.
译文:
美国股市因看到救助希望出现反弹
华尔街赌博救车计划，股市结束震荡出现反弹。
纽约（CNN金融频道）——周五美股上涨，结束了股市本次震荡走势，因为在参议院否决一项针对汽车生产商的140亿美元的救助计划后，投资者对财政部暗示其将介入并救助面临困境的汽车生产商表示欢迎。
道琼斯工业平均指数（INDU)上涨了0.8%。标准普尔500指数（SPX）上涨了0.7%，纳斯达克综合指数（COMP）上涨了2.2%。
本周，道指和标普500指数以微弱跌幅收盘，纳斯达克则微弱上涨。周四，由于市场担心参议院不能通过140亿美元的救车计划，造成了股市暴跌。这一担心后来证明是正确的。周四晚间，救车计划谈判破裂了，因为民主党、共和党、独立的车企以及全美汽车工人联合会不能达成一致协议。
但是在周五，白宫声称将考虑使用预留的款项来帮助银行和华尔街，用于救助汽车工业。布什政府声明，可以使用国会已通过的7000亿美元救市大单——即“不良资产救助计划”或“TARP”中的一部分资金作这一用途。
财政部，作为TARP的管理部门，在一个声明中宣称，该部门同意将使用该资金作为短期解决方案——“直到国会重新召集会议讨论汽车工业长期的生存能力为止”。
“看来，现任政府至少是在密切关注汽车制造商，通过短期救助方案保证他们能够生存下去，直到新政府接管政权”，Bill Stone，匹兹堡PNC金融服务集团的首席投资策划师这样说。
“我认为股市看到了这条新闻利好和利空的两个方面，”Stone 说，“因为这个救助方案会起作用，但它还不是最根本的解决方案。”
专家声称，汽车制造业三大巨头的任意一家出现问题，都会引发庞大的失业人数，并使美国经济更加步入衰退。汽车制造业的股票在这期间涨跌互现。在下午的交易中，通用汽车公司的股票（GM, Fortune 500）下跌了4.3%，而福特汽车（F, Fortune 500）上涨了3.5%。
经济：除了关注汽车制造商之外，投资者的注意力主要集中在当日经济报告数据的变化上。
继上个月下滑了2.9%之后，零售额11月下滑了1.8%。基于Briefing.com的一项调查数据，经济学家认为销售额可能平均下降了2%。除Volatile autos之外的汽车销售上个月下降了2.4%（修正后数据），本月下降了1.6%。经济学家预计除小汽车之外的销售将下跌1.8%。
工业价格指数（PPI）——批发价格通胀的一个计量指标——继10月下降2.8%之后，11月又下降了2.2%。经济学家认为PPI会下降2%。而所谓的CORE PPI（从PPI中去除volatile食品和能源消费），上涨了0.1%，这一数据上个月的数值为0.4%。
密西根大学的消费者信心指数从55.3%上升到59.1%，而舆论所估计的是54.5%。
政府有关部门报道，十月份商业库存下降了0.6%，而原来人们普遍预测将下滑0.2%。商业库存9月份下滑了0.4%（修正后的数字）。
据美国国家经济研究局上周发布的报告称，美国经济自2007年12月以来已进入衰退。而根据杜克大学近期的一项调查，美国多数顶级经理人认为经济衰退将至少再持续一年。
企业新闻：美国银行（BAC, Fortune 500）周四宣称由于收购美林银行和经济衰退的原因，其将在未来三年内削减35000个职位。但它的股票几乎没受影响。
各种科技股发生反弹，其中包括Intel（INTC, Fortune 500）、Apple(AAPL, Fortune 500)和eBay（EBAY, Fortune 500）等大盘股。
市场情况复杂。在纽交所，输家与赢家之比为2：1，成交量为14.3亿股。在纳斯达克，看多者和看空者为7：6，成交量为19.2亿股。
债券：本周四国库券价格发生反弹，将以10年期票据为基准的收益从2.6%降低到2.58%。国库券价格和收益率变化趋势方向相反。自从该票据自1962年首次发行以来，10年期收益率在11月首次下跌到3%以下。
拆借率小幅上涨。根据彭博资讯的报道，3月期伦敦银行同业拆进利率周四从2%下降到1.92%。隔夜伦敦银行同业拆进利率稳定保持在0.12%的低水平。伦敦银行同业拆进利率是一个主要的银行拆借率。
其它市场：全球贸易市场，亚洲和欧洲市场收盘低迷。
美元对欧元和日元汇率下跌。
在纽约商品交易所，美国轻质原油1月份期货下跌1.70美元，价格为46.28美元/桶。
COMEX二月份黄金期货下跌6.10美元，为820.50美元/盎司。
汽油价格继续下跌，创四年来新低，每加仑下跌八分之一美分，全国平均价格为1.656美元/加仑，这是根据本周五美国汽车协会公布的信用卡刷卡记录调查得出的结论。汽油价格已经几乎连续三个月下滑，下跌了将近2美元，即57%，七月份最高点时曾达到4.114美元/加仑。