NEW YORK » In a session that showed more indecision than conviction, the stock market rebounded yesterday from the previous day's massive decline.

  The Dow Jones industrials rose 270 points after fluctuating sharply, and all the major indexes rose more than 3 percent.

Investors wary about the economy drew solace from Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally, who said the automaker has enough cash to make it through 2009 and might not need government help. Rival General Motors Corp. said late in the day that it needs $12 billion in government loans to continue operating; the news briefly shook the market, but stocks rebounded before the close.

The market was also encouraged after General Electric Co. said it expects to pay a dividend despite projections that fourth-quarter results will near the low end of its previous guidance. That raised some hopes that U.S. companies may fare better during the recession than the market has feared.

Investors got an additional lift after the Federal Reserve said it will extend the life of key programs aimed at loosening the credit markets and restoring stability to the financial sector. That helped make financial stocks, the hardest hit sector since the credit crisis began, among the market's biggest gainers.

The Dow rose 270.00, or 3.31 percent, to 8,419.09, making back more than a third of Monday's 680-point plunge, which came on a string of bad economic news including lackluster retail sales during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Broader stock indexes also soared yesterday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 32.60, or 3.99 percent, to 848.81, while the Nasdaq composite index gained 51.73, or 3.70 percent, to 1,449.80.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 24.75, or 5.93 percent, to 441.82.

Advancing issues outpaced decliners by a 3 to 1 basis on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 5.79 billion shares, about even with Monday.

Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to a record low of 2.70 percent from 2.76 percent late Monday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, rose to 0.05 percent from 0.03 percent late Monday.

Dow component General Electric rallied after the diversified industrial, finance and media conglomerate unveiled plans to reorganize its ailing GE Capital finance unit. The changes are expected to save GE $2 billion next year, but will likely lead to job cuts. Shares spiked $2.11, or 14 percent, to $17.61.

The dollar fell against other major currencies. Gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude fell $2.32 to settle at $46.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.