YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] : News that automakers won't immediately be receiving a congressionally-backed bailout drove selling in early action, extending the prior session's losses. However, comments from the Treasury and White House staff calmed concern on the matter, helping limit selling pressure enough to give way to gains.

Weakness surrounded stocks after the Senate refused to provide U.S. automakers with $14 billion in bailout money. General Motors (GM 3.94, -0.18) reportedly hired a bankruptcy firm upon hearing the Senate's decision and will begin implementing major production cuts. Mindful of the implications stemming from a bankruptcy, the Treasury and White House stepped forward to express their willingness to prevent automakers from failing. Whether funds will be made available from the $700 billion TARP plan is still uncertain.

The supportive comments helped keep losses from falling back to session lows, where the stock market traded with a loss of 2.6%. The development also helped participants look past other negative headlines.

Former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange and popular broker, Bernard Madoff, was arrested on allegations he orchestrated a $50 billion scheme in which his money management business engaged in fraudulent practices. Such misdeeds can easily shake investor confidence, especially amid ongoing uncertainty in the broader market.

Stocks were able to finish the session with broad-based gains.

Only energy (-0.9%) finished lower. Energy's decline followed a drop in oil prices. Crude futures finished roughly 2.9% lower at around $46.60 per barrel after rallying substantially during recent sessions. This session's move comes as a pullback after investors pushed its price higher on the expectation OPEC will cut production when it meets next week. Oil still finished the week 14.1% higher.

Technology (+2.4%) and financials (+2.1%) finished with the largest gains. Apple (AAPL 98.27, +3.27) and Amazon.com (AMZN 51.25, +3.00) were some of the best performers in tech, also helping the Nasdaq outperform. Meanwhile JPMorgan Chase (JPM 30.94, +1.00) made gains after trading to a weekly low in the prior session.

Retailers (+1.1%) performed relatively well throughout the session. Their advance comes despite a 1.8% decline in retail sales for November. The consensus called for a 2.0% decline. Excluding autos, sales declined 1.6%, which was also less severe than the 1.8% drop that was anticipated.

Sales for the three-month period ending in November are down 4.7% from the prior three-month period ending in August, and down 4.5% from the same three-month period a year ago. The drop in consumer spending is expected to weigh on GDP results, since consumers typically account for more than two-thirds of economic activity. What is more, consumer spending is expected to remain pressured in the face of mounting job losses and falling asset prices.

The continued threat of softer spending has businesses paring inventories. October business inventories fell 0.6% after falling 0.4% the month before. The consensus called for a 0.2% drop in October.

In other economic news, the producer price index fell 2.2% in November on a month-over-month basis, which was larger than the 2.0% decline that was expected.DJ30 +64.59 NASDAQ +32.84 SP500 +6.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1824/1.91 bln/915 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1887/1.44 bln/1199