Wall Street perked up yesterday, after the US government announced a rescue plan of US$17.4 billion for the ailing automakers.

President George W. Bush announced this morning that General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC will get US$13.4 billion in initial government loans to keep operating. And the automakers will get an additional four billion dollars in February for a total of US$17.4 billion in assistance.

The plan alleviated concerns about the collapse of auto giants will trigger ripple effect and cause deeper, longer recession. Shares of GM, Ford and Chrysler all soared over 14 percent in early trading. Lear Corp., the world's second-biggest maker of automotive seats, also enjoyed a big rally on the plan.

Standard & Poor's downgraded yesterday morning its ratings on 11 major US and European financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.. Goldman Sachs decline nearly three percent.

The Dow Jones rose 111.03 to 8,716.02. Broader indexes also moved higher. The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 13.73 to 899.07; and the Nasdaq rose 29.16 to 1,581.53.