Also on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that problems in the housing market and high unemployment are the biggest economic challenges the U.S. faces.

After suffering through the worst recession since the 1930s, the economy seems to have stabilized and is growing again, Bernanke said, warning that "We are far from being out of the woods."

Meanwhile, a bigger-than-expected rise in oil inventories put pressures on energy shares.

According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude inventories rose by 2.0 million barrels for the week ended April 2, more than analysts had anticipated.

General Motors Co, which received 50 billion U.S. dollars of U. S. taxpayer support for the restructuring, posted a net loss for 2009, but said it was possible to make a profit this year.

GM reported a 4.3-billion-dollar 2009 net loss covering the period from its emergence from bankruptcy in July through the end of the year.

The automaker said it had repaid 2.8 billion dollars of its loans from the U.S. Treasury and Export Development Canada by the end of March and planned to repay the remaining 5.6 billion dollars by June.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 72.47, or 0.66 percent, to 10,897.52. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 6.99, or 0.59 percent, to 1,182.44 and the Nasdaq was down 5.65, or 0.23 percent, to 2,431.16.

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