U.S. Stocks May Benefit From Optimism About Ukraine Peace Deal

Stocks may move to the upside in early trading on Thursday, extending the recovery from the sell-off seen early in the previous session. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly higher open for the markets, with the S&P 500 futures up by 0.2 percent.

The markets may benefit from optimism about a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine following comments from President Donald Trump.

Trump said he had a “lengthy and highly productive phone call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and called Ukraine’s NATO membership not “practical,” raising expectations for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, traders have seemingly shrugged off another hotter than expected inflation reading, as the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices rose by slightly more than expected in January.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand rose by 0.4 percent in January after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.5 percent in December.

Economists had expected producer prices to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 0.2 percent uptick originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the report said the annual rate of producer price growth in January was unchanged from an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in December.

The annual rate of producer price growth was expected to slow to 3.2 percent from the 3.3 percent originally reported for the previous month.

A separate report released by the Labor Department showed first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits fell by slightly more than expected in the week ended February 8th.

The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 213,000, a decrease of 7,000 from the previous week’s revised level of 220,000.

Economists had expected jobless claims to slip to 215,000 from the 219,000 originally reported for the previous week.

After moving sharply lower early in the session, stocks showed a notable recovery attempt over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. The major averages climbed well off their worst levels of the day, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq reaching positive territory.

The Nasdaq inched up 6.09 points or less than a tenth of a percent to 19,649.95 after tumbling by as much as 1.2 percent, but the Dow and the S&P 500 ended the day in the red.

The Dow slid 225.09 points or 0.5 percent to 44,368.56, while the S&P 500 fell 16.53 points or 0.3 percent to 6,051.97.

In overseas trading, stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region turned in a mixed performance during trading on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index jumped by 1.3 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined by 0.4 percent.

Meanwhile, European stocks have moved mostly higher on the day. The German DAX Index is up by 1.7 percent and the French CAC 40 Index is up by 1.4 percent, although the U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index has bucked the uptrend and fallen by 0.5 percent.

In commodities trading, crude oil futures are slumping $0.88 to $70.49 a barrel after tumbling $1.95 to $71.37 a barrel on Wednesday. Meanwhile, after slipping $3.90 to $2,928.70 an ounce in the previous session, gold futures are climbing $13.50 to $2,942.20 an ounce.

On the currency front, the U.S. dollar is trading at 153.58 yen versus the 154.42 yen it fetched at the close of New York trading on Wednesday. Against the euro, the dollar is valued at $1.0394 compared to yesterday’s $1.0383.

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