(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures pared gains as a bigger-than-forecast decline in retail sales offset optimism over a cease-fire in Ukraine. Contracts on the S&P 500 expiring in March added 0.4 percent to 2,073.40 at 8:36 a.m. in New York, paring an earlier gain of 0.6 percent. The S&P 500 is 1 percent away from a record reached Dec. 29, while the Nasdaq Composite Index is about 5 points from a nearly 15-year high. Sales at U.S. retailers fell more than forecast in January, reflecting smaller receipts at gasoline stations and declines at clothing and sporting goods stores. The 0.8 percent drop followed a 0.9 percent decrease in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed Thursday in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.4 percent decline. Sales excluding gasoline were little changed. Separate data showed applications for unemployment benefits climbed last week to a level that’s consistent with progress in the U.S. labor market. Equities are approaching record levels for the first time in 2015, bolstered by the biggest three-month rise in hiring in 17 years and signs of easing tension between Greece and its euro-area creditors. The S&P 500 has rallied 3.7 percent in February after sinking 3.1 percent in January for its worst month in a year. U.S. stocks have traded for the last two months in one of the tightest ranges since 2007, marked by a record high of 2,090.57 and Dec. 16 low of 1,972.74 for the S&P 500. Bull Market The strongest dollar in a decade and a plunge in oil prices that threaten investment and earnings growth have tested the resilience of investors as the bull market nears its seventh anniversary. Concern that European growth is slipping amid signs of deflation, coupled with a showdown that led to speculation Greece would exit from the region’s shared currency also weighed on investor sentiment. A peace summit between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Russian President Vladimir Putin and French and German leaders ended early Thursday with an accord on a cease-fire to stem the conflict that’s devastated eastern Ukraine. It envisages a cease-fire from midnight at the start of Feb. 15 and reaffirms some commitments from a failed September bid to end the conflict. European Union leaders will take up the baton on Greece when they gather in Brussels on Thursday after finance ministers from the euro area concluded talks saying that compromise was possible on the country’s future financing. The summit is a first opportunity for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the main proponent of austerity in return for international aid, to meet Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, elected last month on a platform of ending the country’s bailout program. Finance ministers failed to bridge their differences in six hours of talks Wednesday and agreed to reconvene for another attempt on Monday. Awaiting Earnings With the S&P 500 trading at 17.4 times its members’ projected earnings, a multiple 21 percent higher than the five-year average, investors are analyzing earnings reports and economic data to assess stocks valuations. The S&P 500 has more than tripled from its bear-market low in March 2009, propelled higher by better-than-forecast corporate earnings and three rounds of Federal Reserve bond purchases. The Fed renewed its pledge in January to maintain record-low borrowing costs even as the economy shows signs of acceleration. Earnings Season American International Group Inc. is among the 18 S&P 500 companies releasing quarterly results Thursday. Almost three-quarters of index members have reported results so far, with 77 percent beating profit estimates and 57 percent topping sales projections, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The plunge in oil prices has spurred analysts to lower their profit estimates for energy companies, while overall estimates for the first quarter have fallen the most in six years. Cisco Systems Inc. jumped 7.5 percent as profit and sales topped estimates after customers upgraded their networks. TripAdvisor Inc. rallied 15 percent after posting better-than-projected revenue. Halliburton Co. and Denbury Resources Inc. added more than 0.9 percent as oil prices rose. West Texas Intermediate crude increased 2.3 percent, halting a two-day slide, amid speculation that demand is strengthening. Orbitz Worldwide Inc. soared 23 percent after Expedia Inc., the online-travel booking service, agreed to acquire Orbitz for $12 a share in cash. Tesla Motors Inc. dropped 7.5 percent after the electric-car maker missed targets for vehicle deliveries and reported an unexpected loss. To contact the reporter on this story: Sofia Horta e Costa in London at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net; Jeff Sutherland at jsutherlan13@bloomberg.net Jeff Sutherland, Trista Kelley

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