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Europe's main stock markets and currencies rallied on Thursday on growing optimism about a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, and as bond buyers overcame their latest wobble after stubbornly high U.S. inflation data. Persisting trade war concerns kept gold in demand after U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on every country that has duties on U.S. goods. The euro's bounce left it up 0.3% at $1.041, helped by Trump's phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday, which raised hopes of an end to the near three-year-long war.

Oil prices fell more than 1% on Thursday as a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine continued to exert downward pressure, along with rising crude inventories in the United States. Brent futures were down $1 or 1.3%, at $74.18 a barrel by 1400 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 97 cents, or 1.4%, to $70.40. Brent and WTI lost more than 2% on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed a desire for peace in separate phone calls with him and Trump ordered U.S. officials to begin talks on ending the war in Ukraine.

The dollar slipped on Thursday after components of January's producer price report indicated that core PCE inflation, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, is likely to be lower than previously thought when it is released later this month. It came despite producer prices rising more than economists expected. “There were some subcomponents in there that show that PCE might not be as hot as CPI suggested,” said Noel Dixon, global macro strategist at State Street Global Markets.

Millions are excluded from traditional finance, but Velvet Capital's founder says crypto can level the playing field.

By breaking down physical barriers, consumer internet businesses are reshaping how people shop, connect, learn, and play. Luckily for them, the market seems to believe there is a long runway for growth as the industry has recorded a 42.6% gain over the past six months, beating the S&P 500 by 31.3 percentage points.

Semiconductors are the core infrastructure powering the Information Age. But they’re also susceptible to economic fluctuations as chip demand will ebb and flow with capital spending. Unfortunately, the market seems to be predicting a downturn as the industry has tumbled by 4.5% over the past six months. This drop is a stark contrast from the S&P 500’s 11.3% gain.

CPI inflation surprises to the upside … the latest twist in the battle for OpenAI … the far bigger story underneath the surface … a hopeful chart for crypto investors From yesterday’s Digest: Three inflation reports this week could be catalysts to help stocks resume their march higher. [If today’s CPI numbers] come in soft, the report could act as a defibrillator, jolting stocks back to life.InvestorPlace - Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips Unfortunately, we’re 0-for-1. This morning