NEW YORK, Dec 26: US share prices opened higher in light post-Christmas trading on Friday after the US Federal Reserve threw a lifeline to ailing automaker General Motors’s partly owned finance company.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 56.07 points (0.66 per cent) to 8,524.55 as at 1525 GMT and the tech-rich Nasdaq rose 1.15 points (0.08 per cent) to 1,526.05. The broad Standard & Poor’s 500 index increased 3.45 points (0.40 per cent) to 871.60.

As the major indices got off to a positive start when the market reopened after the Christmas holiday, gains were modest with buying interest broad-based and stocks largely stuck to a tight trading range in light volume.

“The stories of note for the time being include news that the Fed, using emergency powers, approved GMAC’s application to become a bank holding company,” said Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.

The so-called Santa Claus rally, which spans the last five trading days of the year and the first two trading days of the new year, “is off to a positive start,” he said.—AFP