Technology sector leads Wall Street to upside

　NEW YORK, Dec. 12 (Chinese media) -- Wall Street ended higher on Friday, helped by the technology sector on speculation that the U.S. government would boost technology spending.

The stocks opened sharply lower Friday morning with the Dow Jones and the Standard Poor's 500 dropping over 2 percent in the opening as the auto bailout bill died. Shares of GM and Ford plunged more than 20 percent on the opening.

The potential 14 billion U.S. dollar bill to aid the automakers collapsed in the Senate on Thursday night after the United Auto Workers refused to accede to Republican demands for swift wage cuts.

The stocks recovered later in the day after the White House said it was considering using the 700 billion financial industry bailout fund to prevent U.S. automakers from failing.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that retail sales in the United States fell 1.8 percent in November, marking the fifth consecutive monthly drop. The November decline in retail sales followed an even bigger plunge of 2.9 percent in October and was slightly below the 1.9 percent dip that had been expected.

Another report showed U.S. wholesale prices fell 2.2 percent in November led by plunging energy prices, in the fourth straight month of decline.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 64.59 points, or 0.75 percent, to 8,629.68. The Standard Poor's 500 Index added 6.14 points, or 0.70 percent, to 879.73. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 32.84 points, or 2.18 percent, to 1,540.72.