U.S. stocks closed sharply higher on Thursday as investors cheered a cease-fire agreement between Russia and Ukraine, amid firming oil prices and strong earnings reports.
“I think the market is taking its cue off Putin’s announcement of a cease-fire agreement,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. He also expected a compromise to come out of Greece and the euro zone soon. The announcement of a deal between Russia and Ukraine came in early Thursday morning and sent futures higher.
Most analysts remained confident that a Grexit would not occur, although Greece was unable to reach a deal with the European Union to stay in an EU bailout program, the Eurogroup’s Jeroen Dijsselbloem said on Wednesday. He noted talks will continue on Monday.
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