Wall Street Lower at the Get-Go

Stocks on Wall Street opened Friday lower after a federal rescue plan for the U.S. automakers ran out of gas in the Senate.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 96.5 at 8468, and the S&P 500 was losing 14 points at 859. The Nasdaq fell 7.3 at 1500.

Stocks closed lower on Thursday, amid dismal jobless numbers, a widened trade deficit and ahead of the Senate's vote on the Big Three automakers rescue.

The autos-bailout bill failed to pass the Senate late Thursday after the United Auto Workers union refused Republicans' demand for aggressive wage reductions. The House had already passed the plan to provide aid to Ford (F Quote), General Motors (GM Quote) and Chrysler.

The Senate opted 52-35 against the bailout in a procedural vote. It needed 60 votes to pass. Even before the vote failed, GM had hired advisers to help it decide whether to file for bankruptcy, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal Thursday night.

A smattering of economic data hit the market early Friday. Retail sales fell 1.8% in November overall and 1.6% excluding automobiles, while the consensus was for greater declines of 2% and 1.8%, respectively.

The so-called control group, which is made up of retail sales excluding sales of automobiles, gasoline and building materials, increased 0.5%. This figure plays a prominent role in estimations on quarterly data on personal consumption expenditures, Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist for Miller Tabak, wrote on his RealMoney.com blog.

"It is obvious what is happening here: the fall in the price of gasoline has increased consumer purchasing power substantially," says Crecenzi.

Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index, which measures prices of goods at the wholesale level, fell 2.2%, slightly more than economists had predicted. The core PPI increased 0.1%, in line with expectations.