Wall Street suffers a third down day on labour market concerns

Wall Street closed lower for a third straight day on Thursday in response to an unexpected increase in jobless claims and a disappointing revenue outlook from Cisco that added to evidence the economic recovery is weakening.

The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 59 points, or 0.6%, to 10,320. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 6 points, or 0.5%, to 1,084. The Nasdaq Composite Index tumbled 18 points, or 0.8%, to 2,190.

Filings for jobless benefits in the US increased by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 484,000, the government reported on Thursday, their highest level in almost six months. Analysts had forecast a decline.

Technology stocks were down 1.7% after Cisco added to the anxiety by reporting revenue late Wednesday that fell short of forecasts and offering an outlook that was also below expectations. Cisco closed down $2.37, at $21.36, in heavy trade. Intel was up three cents, at $19.45, and Microsoft was down 37 cents, at $24.49. After the closing bell, Nvidia Corp shares rose 6% in extended trading after the graphics chipmaker reported its second-quarter results and gave a third-quarter revenue outlook.

The market was also concerned over the prospects for a slowdown in Europe after Eurostat showed industrial production in the euro zone dipped unexpectedly by 0.1% in June.

In Europe, stocks advanced as a rally in food and beverage shares outweighed an unexpected increase in US jobless-benefit claims.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.1% to 255. In London, the FTSE 100 moved up 0.4%, while the DAX in Frankfurt was down 0.3% and the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.2% lower.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 average was down 0.8%, with losses easing in the final hour of trading after Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan said foreign exchange moves were rough, prompting speculators to cover short dollar positions.

The Shanghai Composite index fell 1.2% after banking shares declined on concerns over Beijing reining in loan growth and their exposure to off-balance sheet loans. In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng index was down 1.2%.

And following its jobs report, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 1.2%.