S&P 500 jumps more than 1%, capping off its best week since 1974; European markets close higher as Fed unveils $2.3 trillion stimulus plan; BELEX15 added symbolic 0.15%; Serbia's c-bank cuts key repo rate to 1.5%
Stocks rose sharply on Thursday, wrapping up a big week of gains, after the Federal Reserve detailed a bevy of programs to support the economy during the shutdowns from the coronavirus pandemic. The S&P 500 gained 1.5% to close at 2,789.82 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 285.80 points, or 1.2%, to 23,719.37. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.8% higher at 8,153.58. The U.S. stock market will be closed Friday due to Good Friday.
The Fed announced a slew of programs, including loans geared towards small and medium sized businesses, that will total up to $2.3 trillion. The central bank also gave more details on its plans to buy investment-grade and now even junk bonds. Thursday’s announcement was enough to outweigh another massive jump in weekly jobless claims. More than 6 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week. Economists expected an increase of 5 million. The latest data built on the record-shattering prior two readings of 6.6 million and 3.3 million.

European markets closed higher Thursday as investors digested the latest U.S. jobless data and a $2.3 trillion stimulus package from the Federal Reserve.  The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed up by 1.4% provisionally, with travel and leisure stocks jumping over 4% to lead gains as all sectors traded in positive territory. With no trade on Friday, due to the Easter holiday, the benchmark finished up over 7% on the week. 
Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse announced that they will postpone paying out part of their 2019 dividend to shareholders until later this year, bowing to mounting pressure on the European banking sector from regulators.

BELEX15 added only minor 0.15%, due to 3.3 % gain at Jedinstvo Sevojno while trade turnover was extremely poor and it was mainly related to NIS. The stock generated only RSD 0.4m in volume, with almost no change in its price, while bonds delivered EUR 1.8m traded.
Serbia's central bank, NBS, said on Thursday it has decided to cut its key repo rate to 1.5% from 1.75% to mitigate the negative effects of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the economy. In making this decision, the central bank was guided by indicators from the international environment showing that the negative effects of the pandemic on the global economic growth are greater than previously estimated, which is reflected in developments in the international commodity and financial markets.
Source: CNBC, Ilirika