(By Salman - iStockAnalyst Writer)

US stocks finished with steep weekly losses amid persistent fears of a possible nationalization of some banks.

For the week, Dow was down 484.74 points or 6.17%. S&P fell 56.79 points or 6.87%, while Nasdaq Composite settled with a weekly loss of 93.13 points or 6.07%.

However, White House assured on Friday that it strongly believes in a private banking system. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said "This administration continues to strongly believe that a privately held banking system is the correct way to go, ensuring that they are regulated sufficiently by this government. That's been our belief for quite some time, and we continue to have that."

Meanwhile, U.S. government on Thursday sued UBS AG, in an effort to force the Switzerland’s largest bank, to disclose the identities of as many as 52,000 American customers who allegedly hid their secret Swiss accounts from U.S. tax authorities. On Wednesday UBS AG had agreed to disclose the names of some secret account holders to avert U.S.

Saab Automobile, the loss making Swedish car unit of struggling US carmaker General Motors (NYSE: GM) filed for bankruptcy on Friday. Late on Tuesday, General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC, submitted requests for $22 billion in additional loans to the U.S. Treasury in order to avoid bankruptcy. The struggling automakers also said that they have reached an agreement with United Auto Workers union to cut labor costs.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) reported fourth-quarter results that exceeded consensus estimates. On the other hand, the world's largest pc maker Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) announced a disappointing first quarter result. Lowe's Cos. (NYSE: LOW), Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Deere Co. (NYSE: DE), J.C. Penney Co Inc (NYSE: JCP), Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) and CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) reported a sharp fall in quarterly profits. CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS), the largest US drugstore chain, registered a rise in its fourth quarter while Sprint Nextel Corp (NYSE: S) announced that its fourth-quarter net loss narrowed from prior year quarter.

New York Times Co. (NYSE: NYT) suspended its quarterly dividend on its Class A and Class B common shares while CBS (NYSE: CBS) slashed its dividend to 5 cents a share from 27 cents.

On the front of economic data, a release by Department of Labor on Friday showed consumer price index dropped 0.3% in January. According to U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. producer prices rose 0.8% in January while core producer prices climbed 0.4% in the month. A release by Department of Labor on Thursday showed continuing claims for the week ending Feb. 7 increased by 92,500 to 4.83 million, the highest level since 1982. US Conference Board said on Wednesday that its index of leading economic indicators rose 0.4% in January, compared to a downwardly revised 0.2% gain in December.