Dow Ends Above Session Lows as Big Tech Holds Firm; European stocks close lower on record U.S. GDP plunge; earnings in focus; BELEX15 flat; Second stimulus package worth RSD 66 billion available immediately 
The Dow ended above the lows of the day on Thursday, as gains in big tech kept a lid on losses from sectors tied to the progress of the economy in the wake of data showing the economy suffered its worst slump on record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.85%, or 225 points, but had been down by 547 points at the lows of the day. The Nasdaq Composite gained 0.43% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.34%. 
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) ended in the green ahead of their quarterly reports due after the closing bell. 
Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) rallied 15% after reporting better-than-expected earnings for its fiscal third quarter and confirming it had settled a licensing dispute with Huawei that will boost revenue by $1.8 billion. 
But financials and energy, both which are linked to the strength of the economy, were shunned following data showing U.S. GDP declined at an annualized rate of 32.9% in the second quarter of 2020, less bad than the expected decline of 34.5%, but still the biggest decline on record. 

European markets closed sharply lower Thursday after investors digested a record drop in U.S. gross domestic product and a slew of major corporate earnings. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed down by over 2% provisionally, with banks shedding more than 4% as most sectors and all major bourses traded in negative territory. 
Volkswagen cut its dividend after reporting a first-half operating loss of 800 million euros ($940 million) amid a 27% plunge in vehicle deliveries due to the coronavirus pandemic, while French rival Renault slumped to a 7.3 billion euro net loss in the first half of the year. Volkswagen shares tumbled 6% while Renault dived over 9%. 

BELEX15 was with no material change while the most active name was Impol, with RSD 2.9m in volume. NIS generated only 0.3min volume, while it seems that its earnings report has not attracted greater attention. The stock was down 0.18%. 
The second economy stimulus package is worth RSD 66 billion and its implementation starts immediately, Serbian Finance Minister Sinisa Mali told Tanjug after today's session of the Government of Serbia, at which the new economy stimulus package was adopted. By August 10, the first installment of the announced two of 60% of the minimum wage, will be paid automatically, and business entities founded in the past months, during the pandemic crisis, can also count on two minimum wages from this package, the minister says. 
Source: CNBC, Ilirika