08:10am (UK time)  ~  A late start for me today and no trading either – I have a few errands to run and then we’re off on a long weekend break until Tuesday.

The U.S. S&P500 index came within a whisker of its all time high last night after optimism for a resolution in both Greece and Ukraine seemed to get closer. There was a ceasefire announced between Pro-Russian rebels and the Ukrainian army which is due to begin on Monday and it would seem that a deal between Greece and their EU bankers is looking to be more on the cards than this time last week, although there are now new worries about Italy, Portugal and Spain causing anti-austerity problems depending on the outcome this month.

News that Russia and Ukraine had signed a ceasefire agreement helped Crude Oil values and U.S. WTI Crude rallied almost $2 by the end of yesterday to $51:33 per barrel and this morning is nudging the $52 level and is now heading towards the top of the narrow channel  at $54 its been in travelling in for the past month or so.

Market Close Thursday 12th February 2015:   Dow Jones 30  +110.24 @ 17,972.38  S&P 500  +19.95 @ 2,068.53  NASDAQ  +51.55 @ 4,347.97  FTSE 100  +9.94 @ 6,828.11  UK AIM  +1.12 @ 698.05  DAX 30  +167.42 @ 10,919.65  CAC 40  +46.82 @ 4,726.20  IBEX  +197.40 @ 10,562.20   Nikkei 225 (Today)  -66.36 @ 17,913.36  Hang Seng (currently)  +217.89 @ 24,640.04