Welcome to another weak start for the North American stock market on Thursday, as investors fret over higher Chinese inflation and a weak sales outlook from Cisco Systems Inc.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 103 points or 0.9 per cent, to 11,254. The broader S&P 500 fell 12 points or 1 per cent, to 1206. In Canada, the S&P/TSX composite index fell 75 points or 0.6 per cent, to 12,867.

Cisco Systems Inc. was by far the biggest weight on U.S. indexes, with the shares falling 16.1 per cent after the technology bellwether issued a weaker-than-expected sales outlook. The dive took down other technology stocks too: Hewlett-Packard Co. fell 2.7 per cent and Microsoft Corp. fell 2.2 per cent.

However, U.S. energy stocks held up reasonably well, with both Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. up 0.3 per cent. Among Canadian names, though, Suncor Energy Inc. fell 1 per cent and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. fell 0.6 per cent.

In other moves, Manulife Financial Corp. fell 1.1 per cent, Bank of Montreal fell 0.4 per cent and Research In Motion Ltd. fell 1.4 per cent.