US stocks fell on Friday, as worries about high oil prices hammered energy-sensitive sectors and left investors on edge about inflation at the onset of a long holiday weekend. Economic bellwethers United Tech and Caterpillar were among the top drags on the Dow.
General Motors' shares fell to a 26-year low after the company said the just-ended strike at supplier American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc and separate strikes by the United Auto Workers at its own plants had reduced its earnings by a total of $2.8 billion.
Worries about the impact of high oil prices pushed the American Stock Exchange index of airline stocks down 4 percent. Shares of restaurant chains, also seen vulnerable, were lower.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 150.95 points, or 1.20 percent, to 12,474.67. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was down 18.56 points, or 1.33 percent, at 1,375.79, while the Nasdaq Composite Index was down 24.07 points, or 0.98 percent, at 2,440.51. Take-over developments were a bright spot, as the Dow and the Nasdaq were on track for their worst week in three months.
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