Major Wall Street indices posted sharp gains on Wednesday, while oil prices fell over 5% amid hopes of a diplomatic solution to Russia's aggression on Ukraine. President Zelensky's advisor indicated that Ukraine is ready for talks, however under several conditions. Meanwhile, the Kremlin announced that it will take necessary steps to ensure Ukraine's neutral status and would prefer to do that through negotiations. Moscow announced a new ceasefire in Ukraine to let civilians flee besieged cities, however this once again turned out to be empty words. Evacuations were possible from Sumy, Enerhodar but not from Kharkiv. The Ukraine Interior Ministry said today the humanitarian corridor agreements were mostly ineffective. The Governor of Ukraine's Donetsk Region said the Russian air strike on a hospital in Mariupol occurred during the agreed ceasefire period. Taking into account the actual actions of the Russian military, the Kremlin's assurances about the willingness to resolve the conflict by peaceful means cannot be taken seriously.

US100 rose more than 3.5% during today's session and managed to break above resistance at 13540 pts, which now acts as support. If current sentiment prevails, upward move may accelerate towards 13825 pts level which is marked with previous price reactions or even psychological 14000pts level. Source: xStation5