U.S. stocks fell for a third straight day Thursday as a revenue warning from Cisco Systems weighed on other technology stocks, including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, while disappointing U.S. jobs data also sent jitters across the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 58.88 points, or 0.57%, to 10319.95, its lowest close since July 21.

The measure's drop over the past three sessions amounts to its biggest three day drop since a three day slump that ended July 1.

The Dow is now off 1.04% for the year. Cisco was the measure's worst performer Thursday with a drop of 2.37, or 10%, to 21.36, after the maker of networking gear reported quarterly revenue a bit lower than analysts expected and projected a slower pace of revenue growth for the current quarter.

Other technology companies also fell. H-P lost 63 cents, or 1.6%, to 40.14, while Microsoft gave back 37 cents, or 1.5%, to 24.49.

International Business Machines slipped 1.53, or 1.2%, to 128.30. The technology heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 18.36, or 0.83%, to 2190.27.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 5.86, or 0.54%, to 1083.61, with the technology sector leading its decline.

European market

European shares ended with a small gain Thursday, consolidating after steep declines in the previous session triggered by concerns over economic growth.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended with a gain of 0.1%, or 0.26 point, to 254.94 after fluctuating between small gains and losses over the course of the day.

Thursday gave investors more reasons to be wary about the economic backdrop, as data showed that euro-zone industrial production dropped 0.1% in June and Greece's economy contracted 1.5% in second quarter.

Banks were broadly lower, with Bank of Ireland shares falling 1.8% and Allied Irish Banks down 1.3% after a media report that the European Central Bank stepped in and purchased short dated Irish government bonds.

The Irish Iseq 20 index lost 0.3% to 466.74. Of the major regional benchmarks, the German DAX index declined 0.3% to close at 6,135.17, the French CAC-40 index lost 0.2% to end at 3,621.07 and the U.K. FTSE 100 index settled 0.4% higher at 5,266.06.

Asian market

Most Asian markets stumbled Thursday amid increased anxiety over the global economic outlook, with Japanese exporters dropping after the yen touched a 15-year high Wednesday and Australian shares taking a hit from poor earnings reports from key heavyweights.

The Nikkei Stock Average pared some of its earlier losses, finishing down 0.9% after trading off as much as 2.4%, as the yen weakened on hopes that the government may act to stop the currency's recent rally.

South Korea's Kospi tumbled 2.1% for its lowest finish in more than a month.

China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index lost 0.9%. Among Japanese exporters, Nintendo lost 3.5% and Elpida Memory dropped 3.4%.

Shares of Toyota Motor ended 0.3% higher at Y3,030 after falling below the Y3,000 mark for the first time since March 2009 on the dollar's overnight dip.

Commodities and metals

Base metals on the London Metal Exchange recouped early losses to end mostly higher Thursday, buoyed by a bottoming in equities and the euro.

Traders said the slight recovery in the euro against the dollar and in equity markets forced market participants to buy back short positions that were profitable after this week's decline.

Copper ended 0.8% higher at $7,255 a metric ton, but nickel failed to follow the other metals higher and closed 1.4% lower.

An unexpected increase in U.S. jobless claims in the week ended Aug. 7, along with disappointing euro-zone industrial production figures kept the market focused on slowing growth in the global economy.

However, the euro later bounced against the dollar and European and U.S. equities also pared losses.

Crude futures fell for the third consecutive session Thursday, settling below $76 as a weakening outlook on the economic recovery continues to stoke fears of dropping oil demand.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery settled $2.28, or 2.9%, lower at $75.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange settled down $2.12 at $75.52 a barrel.

Oil prices have fallen more than 7% since Tuesday, the biggest three-day decline since May.

An unexpected increase in U.S. jobless claims Thursday led to drops in crude and equities as traders avoided assets tied to global economic growth.

The data added to reports earlier this week from Asia and Europe suggesting international economies won't be able to support slowing growth in the U.S. Investors turned to gold as a refuge after weaker than expected U.S. jobless data added to anxiety about the economic recovery.

The most actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, rose $17.50, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,216.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The intraday high of $1,218.50 was the contract's loftiest point since July 15.