YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] : A plan to provide automakers with more than $17 billion helped drive stocks higher, but the bounce proved unsustainable as investors remain cognizant of broader headwinds.

The White House is providing $13.4 billion in TARP funds to automakers as part of an effort to shore up their finances. An additional $4.0 billion will be available in February. Though the funds won't ensure automakers achieve a successful recovery, the announcement does help clear up the market's concern on the matter.

Shares of General Motors (GM 4.49, +0.83) rallied on the news, as did many suppliers dependent on the survival of the big three. Ford (F 2.95, +0.11) also traded higher, though to less of an extent since it is currently not depending on government funds. Ford and GM traded with heavy volume, part of which was induced by the expiration of December options.

The expiration of December options also increased share volume in the broader market. More than 2.4 billion shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, most of which came in the early going.

Futures contracts for January crude oil also expired this session, but not before sinking to a new four-year low of $32.40 per barrel. The contracts finished 6.5% lower at $33.87 per barrel. However, February contracts gained 1.5% to settle at $42.31 per barrel. The advance in February crude futures prices came despite continued gains in the U.S. dollar.

The greenback gained 2.3% against a basket of major foreign currencies today. It is up 3.0% over the past two days. That has weighed on metals for two straight sessions. February gold shed 2.7% to settle at $837.40 per ounce, while March silver slipped 2.4% to finish at $10.85 per ounce. Their weakness continues to undermine the materials sector (-1.3%), which was the session's worst performer.

Financials (+0.4%) had a relatively solid performance even though Standard & Poor's lowered the credit ratings of Goldman Sachs (GS 80.73, +0.68), Wells Fargo (WFC 28.70, -0.95), JPMorgan Chase (JPM 30.32, +0.11), and Bank of America (BAC 13.80, -0.16). Traders' reaction to the downgrade was relatively muted given the belief that the credit analysts are essentially late to the game.

Tech (+0.9%) was a relative leader after Oracle (ORCL 17.78, +1.17) and Research In Motion (RIMM 42.83, +4.39) posted in-line earnings results for the latest quarter. Their strength helped the Nasdaq outperform.

In other earnings news, Accenture (ACN 32.21, +1.80) made its way to a new December high after posting better-than-expected results for its latest quarter.

European stocks ended the week lower after a volatile session. The FTSE fell 1.0%, the DAX tumbled 1.3%, and France's CAC closed 0.3% lower.

Russia's MICEX advanced 0.7%, but the RTS tumbled 5.1%. 

The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index closed 0.6% lower, while Japan's Nikkei closed 0.9% lower after the Bank of Japan lowered its key policy rate to 0.10% from 0.30%.  In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed down 2.4%, ending four days of gains. DJ30 -25.88 NASDAQ +11.95 SP500 +2.60 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1417/2.60 bln/1434 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1954/2.42 bln/1152