By Kate Gibson

U.S. stocks on Friday erased early losses to finish nearly flat for the week after the Bush administration said it would step in to prevent a failure of U.S. automakers amid worries that more layoffs would deepen the recession.

"The Treasury said it'll step up, and at least give them an IV drip until they get to the new Congress," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist for PNC Wealth Management.

"I can't imagine the market for that timeframe is going to enjoy having that hang over us - you have to believe it saps on confidence," said Stone.

Down about 200 points at the start, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) climbed 64.59 points, or 0.8%, to end at 8,629.68, leaving the blue-chip index off nearly 0.1% from last Friday's close.

Twenty-one of the Dow's 30 components ended in the green, led by Intel Corp. (INTC), up 5.3%.

Up and down throughout the session, shares of General Motors Corp. (GM) lost 4.4%.

Off the Dow, shares of Ford Motor Co. (F) gained 4.8%.

Earlier, the Treasury Department said it would make funds available to automakers until Congress has time to consider a long-term rescue package next year. .

"We're walking on thin ice in the market right now, so the more certainty we get with these automakers, the better," said Harry Rady, CEO of Rady Asset Management.

Shares of Bank of America Corp. (BAC) edged fractionally higher in the wake of its downgrade by Standard & Poor's Equity Research, which followed word the bank would cut as many as 35,000 jobs during the next three years. .

The S&P 500 (SPX) climbed 6.14 points, or 0.7%, to 879.73, giving it a 0.4% rise on the week.

Financials, information technology and materials fronted gains that stretched to include seven of the index's 10 industry groups, while energy, telecommunication services and health care proved the S&P's lagging sectors.

The Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) rose 32.84 points, or 2.2%, to 1,540.72, up 2.1% from a week ago. .

Commodities slide

Crude-oil futures tumbled, with futures for January delivery off $1.70 to end at $46.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude posted a weekly gain of $5.47, or 13.4%, from last Friday's close of $40.81 barrel. .

Elsewhere on Nymex, gold futures closed lower, but posted a weekly gain of 9%. Gold for February delivery ended $6.10 off at $820.50 an ounce, leaving it with a weekly advance of $68.3 from last Friday's close of $752.2 an ounce. .

Late Thursday, Bernard Madoff, former Nasdaq Stock Market chairman and founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, was arrested and charged with securities fraud in what federal prosecutors called a Ponzi scheme that could involve losses of more than $50 billion. .

And, the deluge of industry job cuts spread into the traditionally defensive gambling sector Friday when Las Vegas Sands (LVS) announced it would cut 216 full-time employees from its Las Vegas properties.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands finished up 2.2%.

Volume on the New York Stock Exchange topped 1.4 billion, and advancers topped decliners 3 to 2. On the Nasdaq, more than 773 million shares changed hands, as advancers overshot decliners 2 to 1.

Early economic data also weighed on equities, with the government reporting a 1.8% drop in retail sales in November. .

Separately, the Labor Department said U.S. inflation at the wholesale level declined sharply last month. .

After hitting a 28-year low last month, Consumer sentiment improved a bit in early December, according to a survey by the University of Michigan and Reuters. The consumer sentiment index climbed to 59.1 in December from 55.3 the previous month.

International markets were also hit hard by the collapse of the auto industry rescue, with Japan's Nikkei 225 tumbling 5.6% .

Similarly, the pan-European Dow Jones Stoxx 600 index fell 3.4%. .

Ecuador's President Rafael Correa made good on his threat to default on the country's foreign debt Friday, saying Ecuador will not make a payment due Dec. 15.

U.S. stocks finished deep in negative territory on Thursday as fears over the future of the bailout plan mounted and amid renewed concerns over the health of financial firms.