U.S. stocks fell sharply on Friday as disappointing earnings from giant companies of GE and Citigroup raised investors' anxiety about other companies' results, while crude price roared to four-month high.

The Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor's 500 stock index posted their biggest declines since March 24, 2003, soon after the war in Iraq began. The Dow erased its gains for 2006.

Among stocks in focus, General Electric Co. reported Friday its net profit slipped 46 percent from a year ago to 3.06 billion dollars on losses from its insurance unit, which the conglomerate is exiting. GE sank 1.31 dollars to 33.37 dollars.

Motorola slumped 1.89 dollars to 22.48 dollars as forecast- beating fourth-quarter earnings were offset by disappointment among some investors that the maker of mobile phones did not raise its financial outlook.

Citigroup's earnings jumped 30 percent from strength overseas and a gain on the sale of its asset-management unit. However, its profit before one-time items was slightly weaker than forecast, sending shares down 2.25 dollars to 45.69 dollars.Google shares fell 8.5 percent to 399.46 dollars, marking the largest one-day percentage drop for the search giant's stock. The day also marked the highest trading volume since the company went public in August of 2004. Google said Thursday it would vigorously resist any attempt by the government to turn over any information relating to the search patterns of its users.Soaring energy prices dampen the market over earnings either. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, rose 1.52 dollars to close at 68. 35 dollars a barrel Friday, its highest finish since September 19, on concerns of rising demand and Iran's nuclear tensions.

According to preliminary calculations, the Dow dropped 213.32, or 1.96 percent, to 10,667.39. The index has given back all of the 325 points it had gained so far this year.

Broader stock indicators also closed sharply lower. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 23.55, or 1.83 percent, to 1,261. 49, and the Nasdaq dropped 54.11, or 2.35 percent, to 2,247.70.

Declining issues led advancers by almost 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume of 1.6 billion shares topped the 1.37 billion shares that changed hands on Thursday.

Source: Xinhua