US market mixed over auto bailout

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Source: CCTV.com | 12-20-2008 13:07

The three major indexes on the New York Stock Exchange have shown mixed reactions over the White House's announcement of a loan program to help the country's ailing auto industry.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose on Friday, buoyed by the the US government's decision to throw a 17.4 billion US dollar lifeline to troubled automakers.

The S&P 500 Index rose 2.60 points to 888.

And the Nasdaq Composite Index added almost 12 points to close at 1,564.

But the Dow Jones industrial average ended lower, pulled down by another fall in energy shares.

The Dow slipped nearly 26 points to end at 8,580.

Initial optimism over the government loan sent stocks up as much as two percent.

But it faded as investors realized the bailout is short-term.

Auto Industry analtst Efriam Levy, said, "This bailout is by no means a panacea. It could be just three months of lifeline for them. Right now we're heading to what we look at in the US as effectively a depression or a depression-like era for auto sales."

For the week, the Dow ended down 0.59 percent, while the S&P 500 finished up 0.93 percent and the Nasdaq up 1.53 percent.

Still, analysts believe Wall Street has entered a period of relative stability, compared with the wild swings of September, October and early November.

Meanwhile oil prices stabilized on Friday. Light, sweet crude for February delivery rose 69 cents to settle at 42 US dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Editor:Zhang Ning