DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. (GM.N) shares rose more than 5 percent on Tuesday amid hopes that the automaker is nearing a union deal that would offer buyouts to thousands of factory workers.þþAn agreement with the United Auto Workers union would also involve employees of bankrupt former GM subsidiary Delphi Corp. (DPHIQ.PK), which plans to ask the court to void its labor contracts if it does not reach a deal with its unions by the end of this month.þþA deal would help avoid a strike at Delphi, which could cripple GM and force it to burn through billions of dollars a week, analysts have said.þþShares of the world's largest automaker were up 79 cents, or 3.8 percent, at $21.64 in morning New York Stock Exchange trade after rising as high as $21.98 earlier in the session.þþ``My guess is the stock is rallying on hopes that a deal with the UAW is very close,'' Burnham Securities analyst David Healy said.þþThe stock, which lost more than 50 percent of its value last year, has risen 12 percent this year.þþRepresentatives of all three parties met through the weekend and Monday, discussing terms of a deal that focuses on early retirement for many union workers, according to a source familiar with the talks.þþGM, which lost $10.6 billion in 2005 and is struggling to bring its costs in line with its slide in market share, plans to cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 plants through 2008.þþWhen the automaker spun off Delphi in 1999, it pledged to cover union pension and health-care benefits if they were terminated by Delphi.þþGM's 8.375 percent bonds due in 2033 rose to 75.5 cents on the dollar on Tuesday, up from 74.75 cents on Monday, according to MarketAxess.þþ
Source: NY Times
