Dow ekes out small gain amid lingering uncertainty on stimulus, tech rises; European stocks close slightly higher, tracking gains on Wall Street; Bayer slides 12%; BELELX15 down 0.16%; Retail trade turnover fully recovered 
Stocks pared earlier gains and finished Thursday’s session slightly higher as hopes for further fiscal stimulus waned. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 35.20 points, or 0.1%, to 27,816.90 after jumping 250 points earlier in the day. The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, or 17.80 points, to 3,380.80, while the Nasdaq Composite outperformed, gaining 1.4%, or 159.00 points, to 11,326.51. 
The weekly jobless claims report came in better than expected, however. The Labor Department said first-time filers for unemployment benefits tallied 837,000 in the week ending Sept. 26. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a total of 850,000. 

European stocks advanced cautiously on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street, with economic data and corporate earnings in focus. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.2% higher, with retail stocks adding 2.4% while oil and gas stocks slid 1.7%. 
Earnings were a key driver of individual share price movement on Thursday, with Swedish retailer H&M climbing 6% after beating third-quarter forecasts. French-Italian chipmaker STMicro added 7% after upbeat results, which also sent German rival Infineon 7.5% higher. 
Bayer shares plunged more than 12% after the German pharmaceutical giant announced further cost cuts and impairment charges, revising down its guidance. 

BELEX15 faced only small 0.16%, loss as NIS was under sell pressure. The company lost 1.9%. This time, the most active was Jubmes Banka, with solid RSD 64m in volume, while surprisingly, Tehnogas and Metalac were also top traded with bot scoring RSD 10 and 9m in volume. 
Data on retail trade confirm that this branch of economic activity has recovered in full. Namely, retail trade turnover recorded y-o-y growth for the fourth consecutive month, measuring 4.5% in August. In the period January–August, retail trade turnover increased by 4.6% y-o-y. 
Source: CNBC, Ilirika