Wall Street up in early trading

NEW YORK - Wall Street is up in light post-holiday trading Friday, but still cautious about embarking on a year-end rally after dreary readings on holiday spending.

Investors did get a some good news on Christmas Eve, when the Federal Reserve allowed GMAC Financial Services the finance arm of struggling Detroit automaker General Motors Corp. to become a bank holding company. It now qualifies for the government's $700 billion rescue fund.

But less reassuring was a decline in holiday sales. According to SpendingPulse, seasonal retail sales dropped between 5.5 percent and 8 percent compared with last year.

The Dow Jones industrial average is up about 34 points at the 8,503 level in the first minutes of trading.