U.S. stocks fell Friday, with General Electric, Caterpillar and 3M among the decliners following disappointing reports on U.S. employment and factory orders.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 46.05 points, or 0.47%, to 9686.48, its lowest close since Oct. 5, 2009. Friday marked the Dow's seventh straight session in the red, its longest losing streak since an eight day run that ended in October 2008.

This week, the measure fell 4.51%, its biggest weekly drop since the week ended May 7, which included the Flash Crash. The week also represented the Dow's worst five day performance leading up to July 4 since 1896.

General Electric was the measure's worst performer with a drop of 24 cents, or 1.7%, to 13.88. The measure's industrial components were also particularly weak, with Caterpillar down 79 cents, or 1.3%, at 59.18, and 3M off 88 cents, or 1.1%, at 77.67, weighed down by a decline in U.S. factory orders.

The Nasdaq Composite slipped 9.57, or 0.46%, to 2091.79, its lowest close since Nov. 4. This week, the measure dropped 5.92%, its second straight week in the red and worst week since May. Friday marked the Nasdaq's fifth-straight session closing in negative territory, its longest losing streak since March 2009.

The Standard & Poor's 500 declined 4.79, or 0.47%, to 1022.58, its lowest close since Sept. 4 last year. It shed 5.03% this week. Friday's declines came after the government's job report showed that while the jobless rate edged down, it still remains elevated at 9.5%.

In addition, nonfarm payrolls fell by 125,000 last month, with only 83,000 private-sector jobs added. Other data showed that U.S. factory orders declined in May, posting the largest drop in 14 months as transportation related orders tumbled.

European shares were unable to hold meager gains Friday, ending the day virtually flat as a rebound by automakers and miners was offset by weakness in the health care and technology sectors.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped 0.03 point to end at 237.20, slightly extending the five and a half week low set Thursday on worries about the global economic recovery.

The index ended the week 4.5% lower. Autos took back some of the sharp losses made in the previous session with Renault shares up 2.1%. Nissan, which is 44% held by Renault, reported a 10.8% increase in U.S. June sales. BMW, however, failed to hold on to an earlier gain and ended 0.8% lower.

Miners, also sensitive to economic trends, advanced as copper futures rose and Australia's new government amended its controversial proposed mining tax. Shares of Xstrata climbed 3% and BHP Billiton advanced 1.7%.

Of the major regional benchmarks, the U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to settle at 4,838.09, the German DAX index fell 0.4% to 5,834.15 and the French CAC-40 index advanced 0.3% to 3,348.37.

Asian markets ended mixed in choppy trade Friday as investors remained cautious ahead of the upcoming U.S. jobs data and on deepening concerns of an economic slowdown.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average climbed 0.1%, snapping a five session losing streak. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.4%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropped 1.1%, South Korea's Kospi fell 0.9%, and Taiwan's Taiex advanced 1.1%.

Regional energy shares broadly declined after crude oil prices ended below $73 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Cnooc tumbled 3.3% and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, gave up 2.2% in Hong Kong.

Most gold producers also sustained losses after gold prices fell Thursday and as the precious metal was weighed by lingering concerns over slowing global demand after weaker than expected economic data out of the U.S. and China recently.

Zhongjin Gold tumbled 4.9% and Shandong Gold Mining slid 4.6% in Shanghai, Zijin Mining Group fell 3.2% in Hong Kong, and Sumitomo Metal Mining shed 0.9% in Tokyo.

Base metals closed higher Friday, despite giving up some of their early gains after a mixed jobs report from the U.S.

Payrolls fell 125,000 considerably more than the an expected 110,000 decline predicted by economists however, the market clearly took note of an 83,000 rise in private sector jobs and a fall in the unemployment rate from 9.7% in May to 9.5% in June.

LME three month copper closed $81 higher, at $6,410 a metric ton and tin was up $270 at $17,230/ton. Nickel was the only metal to end the day lower, falling $190 to $18,800.

Crude oil futures fell Friday for a fifth consecutive day, capping their steepest weekly decline since early May, as disappointing economic data continued to point toward a stalling economic recovery.

The front month contract, for August delivery, settled 81 cents, or 1.1%, lower at $72.14 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

August North Sea Brent crude fell 69 cents, or 1%, to $71.65 a barrel. Gold futures rose fractionally as some thought the previous session's huge slide created bargain opportunities, but most didn't want to place fresh bets ahead of the long weekend.

The most actively traded gold contract, for August delivery, rose $1, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,207.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost nearly 4% on the week.