(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)US stock futures fell sharply on Friday on fears that weak corporate earnings would prolong the recessionary pain.

At 8:31 am ET, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March fell 23.50 points to 802. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 214 points to 7878. Nasdaq Composite Index futures slipped 27.25 points to 1145.00.

Early on Friday, Diversified firm General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) reported that its fourth quarter profit tumbled 44% to $3.72 billion, or 35 cents per diluted share, compared with $6.7 billion, or 66 cents per diluted share, a year earlier. Revenue decreased 4.8%.On an adjusted basis, GE earned 37 cents a share, matching consensus estimates.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) announced that its fourth-quarter net income declined 17% to $1.15 billion, or 95 cents a share from $1.38 billion, or $1.12 a share in the comparable period a year ago. Revenue rose to $6.87 billion from $6.25 billion.

Xerox Corp (NYSE: XRX) said its fourth quarter net income fell to $1 million, or breakeven per share, from $382 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.

Late on Thursday, internet giant Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) said its fiscal fourth-quarter net income declined steeply to $382 million, or $1.21 a share, from $1.2 billion, or $3.79 a share in the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Excluding charges, Google earned $5.10 a share. Google said it booked a $355 million charge related to Clearwire, and a $726 million charge related to AOL. Quarterly revenue rose 18% to $5.7 billion. Analysts on average were looking for earnings of $4.95 a share, excluding charges on revenue of $4.1 billion in net revenue.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NYSE: AMD) on Thursday reported that its fourth quarter loss narrowed to $1.42 billion, or $2.34 a share from a loss of $1.77 billion, or $3.06 a share in the prior year quarter.  Revenue dropped 35% to $1.16 billion from $1.74 billion in the same period a year ago. Excluding items, the company would have reported loss of $418 million, compared to $90 million in the same quarter last year.

Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $1.4 billion, or $3.74 a common share compared to net income of $226.6 million, or 60 cents a common share, in the same quarter last year. Consensus expectations were for earnings of 33 cents a share. Revenue decreased 19% to $3.17 billion.

According to reports, Pfizer Inc.(NYSE: PFE), the world's largest drug maker, is in talks to acquire rival Wyeth (NYSE: WYE) in a deal potentially worth more than $60 billion.

German chipmaker Qimonda AG, unit of Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE: IFX), filed for bankruptcy on Friday.

Elsewhere, the UK economy officially entered recession as its economy shrank 1.5% in fourth quarter of 2008.The decline follows a 0.6% contraction in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics reported on Friday.  

Asian stocks finished with losses. The Nikkei 225 fell 306.49 points or 3.81% to 7,745.25. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 79.39 points or 0.63% to 12,578.60.

NYMEX Crude Oil for March delivery declined as much as $1.74, or 4%, to $41.93 a barrel.

Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.