Stocks plunged Friday after financial firms Bank of America and Citigroup reported weaker quarterly revenue and sharply falling U.S. consumer sentiment revived worries about the economic outlook. Friday's sell-off erased the major indexes' gains for the week, which had been between 1.7 and 2.3 percent through Thursday's close. In U.S. economic news, the University of Michigan's consumer-sentiment index fell sharply in early July from late June. A government report said inflation remains tame, with consumer prices falling 0.1 percent in June, and core prices, which exclude volatile energy and food costs, rising 0.2 percent. The U.S. dollar fell slightly versus the euro, moving closer to a two-month low hit in the morning. The dollar also fell versus the yen. Light sweet crude oil for august delivery fell 83 cents to $75.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold fell $17.10 to $1,191.20 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 261.41, or 2.5 percent, to 10.097.90. All 30 of the index's 30 components fell. Bank of America reported a second-quarter profit of $3.1 billion, beating estimates, but the bank also reported lower revenue than a year ago, leading investors to sell shares, which fell 9.2 percent. General Electric (GE) reported higher quarterly profit and weaker revenue, and shares of the industrial and financial conglomerate fell 4.6 percent. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 31.60, or 2.9 percent, to 1,064.88. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 70.03, or 3.1 percent, to 2,179.05. Google late Thursday reported higher quarterly profit that missed forecasts on higher revenue that beat estimates, sending shares 6 percent lower on Friday.
