Friday's economic news came mixed, which did little to provide any support for the market. The Commerce Department said before the opening bell that housing starts increased 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 626,000 annual rate, higher than analysts had expected.

Separately, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment index fell to 69.5 in April from March's reading 73.6, failing to hit the 75-mark that economists had been hoping for.

Two men walk outside the headquarters of Goldman Sachs in Manhhatan borough in New York April 16, 2010. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Friday charged Wall Street investment giant Goldman Sachs for "defrauding investors" over subprime mortgage securities, which were largely blamed for the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

At market close, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged 125. 91, or 1.13 percent, to 11,018.66. The Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled 19.54, or 1.61 percent, to 1192.13 and the Nasdaq was down 34.43, or 1.37 percent, to 2,481.26.

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