Stocks fell modestly Thursday after partially recovering from more significant losses, as investors considered an unexpected rise in U.S. jobless claims and Cisco systems' cautious outlook. In U.S. economic news, initial jobless claims jumped unexpectedly to 484,000 last week, the highest figure in five months. A second report showed that import prices rose 0.2 percent in July and were up 4.9 percent from a year ago. The increase was led by higher fuel prices. Export prices fell 0.2 percent last month but were up 3.9 percent from a year earlier. Cisco Systems posted a 79 percent increase in quarterly profit late Wednesday, but the technology giant's revenue missed analyst expectations, and the company's sales outlook was slightly disappointing. Cisco chief executive John Chambers stressed that while he was confident in his company's ability to continue growing, worries like job creation and economic growth still exist, and the economy has been sending “mixed signals” to Cisco's customers. General Motors (GM) posted its second consecutive quarterly profit Thursday, with earnings of $1.3 billion. The results put the automaker in position to proceed with the sale of stock to the public that is needed to repay taxpayer assistance it received from the government last year. The company also said chief executive Ed Whitacre will depart next month. The U.S. dollar gained versus the euro and the yen. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery fell $2.28 to $75.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $17.50 to $1,216.70 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 58.88, or 0.6 percent, to 10,319.95. Cisco shares fell 10 percent. Stocks falling more than 1 percent included American Express, Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, General Electric, IBM, and Wal-Mart Stores. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 5.86, or 0.5 percent, to 1,083.61. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 18.36, or 0.8 percent, to 2,190.27, dragged lower by the plunge in Cisco shares.
