* U.S. stocks mixed in thin post-holiday trade
* Oil rises after No. 5 exporter UAE says to cut supplies
* Japan's Nikkei at 6-week closing high
By Daniel Bases
NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock prices were mixed
while Japan pushed to a six-week high in thin post-Christmas
bargain hunting on Friday as investors picked through the
carnage amid the final days of a year many would like to
forget.
Commodity prices rose. Crude oil prices gained on news that
No. 5 oil exporter United Arab Emirates was cutting production
to comply with last week's output cut by OPEC of 2.2 million
barrels per day, the cartel's biggest ever.
The U.S. dollar climbed versus a basket of currencies. The
price of gold rose while copper rebounded from a four-year
low.
European stock and debt markets remained closed on Friday.
General Motors Corp <GM.N> shares jumped 13.2 percent to
$3.68 on Wednesday's decision by the the U.S. Federal Reserve
to recognize the carmaker's financing arm, GMAC, as a bank
holding company. GMAC can now access government lending
programs.
"It's significant in terms of GM's ability to move cars,"
said Erich Merkle, an auto analyst at consultant Crowe Horwath
in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"Things are still pretty ugly out there (in terms of sales)
but in terms of GM possibly filing for bankruptcy, in my mind
that's not going to happen. The reason I'm saying this is what
they (the government) are doing with GMAC right now."
Last week the White House threw U.S. automakers a $17.4
billion lifeline of emergency loans in an attempt to stave off
a collapse that could jeopardize hundreds of thousands of
jobs.
In thin U.S. stock trading, the Dow Jones industrial
average <> was up 1.51 points, or 0.02 percent, at
8,469.99. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was down 1.22
points, or 0.14 percent, at 866.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index
<> was down 5.43 points, or 0.36 percent, at 1,519.47.
Energy-related shares gained on the higher oil prices.
Exxon Mobil <XOM.N> rose 1.7 percent to $77.07.
U.S. financial shares were the laggards. The most actively
traded U.S. share, Citigroup <C.N>, fell 1.03 percent to $6.71.
JPMorgan Chase <JPM.N> lost 1.4 percent to $29.42.
The Nasdaq lost despite news that Apple <AAPL.O> will begin
selling some models of its popular iPhone at top global
retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> on Sunday. Apple's stock
rose 0.9 percent at $85.80.
The S&P 500 stock index is down nearly 41 percent in 2008,
its second worst performance on record after a 47.1 percent
drop in 1931.
JAPAN GAINS AMID GLOOM
Japanese share prices rose to a six-week high. The
benchmark Nikkei 225 index <> gained 140.02 points or 1.63
percent to close at 8,739.52.
A second day of gains for battered carmaker Toyota Motor
Corp <7203.T> helped lead the way, rising 1.93 percent to 2900
yen. Its shares hover above 5-1/2 year lows.
Year-end portfolio window dressing overcame a record 8.1
percent plunge in November industrial production. Core
inflation fell faster than forecast, putting the country on
course for its second spell of deflation this decade.
The data on deflation plus month-end buying from pension
funds drove government bonds higher and pushed the 20-year
yield to a five-year low of 1.755 percent, down 6.5 basis
points <JP20YTN=RR>.
"The Japanese economy is unlikely to bottom out until
October-December next year as output is expected to remain very
weak until then," said Naoki Iizuka, senior economist at Mizuho
Securities.
The government said it would lend support.
Japanese Economics Minister Kaoru Yosano told Reuters in an
interview that Tokyo may take more fiscal spending measures if
economic conditions worsen further, on top of a stimulus
package totaling 75 trillion yen ($829 billion).
Germany said it would likely limit to 25 billion euros
($34.97 billion) a second package of economic stimulus
measures, with a focus on investment projects and some
consumption incentives, government sources told Reuters.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries gained on the safe-haven
bid, rising 7/32 of a point in price, pushing the yield down to
2.164 percent <US10YT=RR>.
The U.S. dollar rose 0.29 percent to 80.953 <.DXY> against
a basket of currencies. The greenback rose 0.32 percent to
90.680 against the yen <JPY=>. However the euro rose 0.36
percent to $1.4062 <EUR=> while sterling gained 0.12 percent to
$1.4666 <GBP=>.
Crude oil prices rose $1.74 or 4.92 percent to $37.09 a
barrel <CLc1>. Gold climbed $13.20 an ounce or 1.56 percent to
857.20 <XAU=>.
(Additional reporting by Eric Burroughs in Hong Kong; Aiko
Hayashi and Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo; Soyoung Kim in Detroit;
Walden Siew, Chris Reese, and Vivianne Rodriques in New York;
Editing by Leslie Adler)
