* Auto bailout bolsters economic hopes
* Large-cap tech companies lift Nasdaq
* Consumer confidence, home prices at record lows
* Dow up 2.2 pct, S&P up 2.4 pct; Nasdaq up 2.7 pct
* For up to the minute market news, please click on
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(Adds context to Dow)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Dec 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks climbed on Tuesday
after the government expanded its bailout of the auto industry,
bolstering hopes lawmakers would continue to take steps to
minimize the severity of the year-long recession.
The Bush Administration said late Monday it would extend an
additional $1 billion loan to General Motors Corp <GM.N> and
take a $5 billion stake in the automaker's financing arm, GMAC,
in the latest move to ease the credit crisis.
"The GMAC news is the driver of the lot." said Steve Sachs
director of trading at Rydex Investments, Rockville, Maryland.
"The government has been telling us for months that they will
do whatever it takes and there is probably more of it in store
as we get to the inauguration and a few weeks past that."
The Dow Jones industrial average <> rose 184.46 points,
or 2.17 percent, to 8,668.39. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
<.SPX> gained 21.21 points, or 2.44 percent, to 890.63. The
Nasdaq Composite Index <> added 40.38 points, or 2.67
percent, to 1,550.70.
The Dow is down 1.8 percent month-to-date after closing
down 5.3 percent in November and 34.7 percent year-to-date. The
S&P has risen almost 18 percent since hitting an 11-year low on
Nov. 20, but is still down about 40 percent for 2008.
The Nasdaq was boosted by shares of big-cap technology
companies that have larger cash reserves and are seen as better
positioned to withstand the economic slump.
Shares of Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O>, the wireless chip maker,
rose 2.5 percent to $34.94, while software maker Oracle Corp
<ORCL.O> gained 3.5 percent to $17.83, putting them among the
top boosts on the Nasdaq. International Business Machines Corp
<IBM.N> was the leading advancer on the Dow, rising 2.8 percent
to $83.55.
Investors shrugged off another round of economic reports
that pointed to a deepening recession. Prices of single-family
homes plunged a record 18 percent in October, while consumer
confidence also fell to a record low. []
In an effort to stem the tide of the recession, U.S.
lawmakers have extended aid to a slew of companies, most
recently to automakers GM and privately held Chrysler LLC.
On Tuesday, GMAC announced easier financing terms for car
and truck buyers and GM announced zero percent financing for
some vehicles, which could help bolster sales. For details, see
[]
Earlier this month, the government agreed to extend a $17.5
billion lifeline to GM and Chrysler in an attempt to prevent
their potential collapse which could have led to hundreds of
thousands of jobs lost and further weakened the economy.
GM rose 5.6 percent to $3.80, while Ford added 3.2 percent
to $2.29.
Rohm & Haas <ROH.N> jumped 11.9 percent to $59.70 after the
Financial Times reported Dow Chemical <DOW.N> could tap a $13
billion bridge loan or renegotiate the price to salvage its $15
billion planned takeover of the company.
The deal was jeopardized after Kuwait decided to scrap a
joint venture with Dow Chemical over the weekend, depriving Dow
Chemical of financing it planned to use for the acquisition.
Dow rose 1.5 percent to $15.55.
Volume was slim on the New York Stock Exchange, where about
948.8 million shares changed hands, far below last year's
estimated daily average of 1.90 billion. On the Nasdaq, about
1.4 billion shares traded, well below last year's daily average
of 2.17 billion.
Advancers outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a ratio of
about 4 to 1, while on the Nasdaq about two stocks rose for
every one that rose.
(Editing by Leslie Adler)
