Shares gain as oil slips on hopes for Ukraine progress – Reuters.com

Shares gain as oil slips on hopes for Ukraine progress – Reuters.com

SYDNEY, March 14 (Reuters) - Most share markets firmed and oil slid on Monday on hopes for progress in Russian-Ukraine peace talks even as fighting continued to rage, while bond markets braced for rate rises in the United States and UK this week.

While Russian missiles hit a large Ukrainian base near the border with Poland on Sunday, both sides gave their most upbeat assessment yet of prospects for talks. read more

Just the chance of peace saw S&P 500 stock futures add 0.5%, while Nasdaq futures rose 0.4%. EUROSTOXX 50 futures gained 0.5% and FTSE futures 0.2%.