Stocks ended the week higher after oil rallied as the ministers of several oil producing nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and Russia, made suggestions about potentially capping their production at recent levels. While the rally stalled a bit late in the week as Iran failed to get in-line with its peers, the early gains in oil, and stocks, mostly remained after two days of consolidation.

MACRO NEWS: In the U.S., the Producer Price Index rose 0.1% in January, versus expectations for a decrease of 0.2%. The core reading, which excludes food and energy, was up 0.4%, versus expectations for an increase of 0.1%. Housing starts dropped 3.8% to a 1.099M rate in January, versus expectations for an increase of 2%. Building permits dipped 0.2% to a 1.202M rate, versus expectations for a decrease of 0.3%. The Consumer Price Index was flat in January, versus expectations for a month-over-month decline of 0.1%. The core CPI, excluding food and energy components, increased 0.3% last month, which was its biggest gain since August 2011…

The Federal Reserve released the minutes from last month’s FOMC meeting, which stated that “many members” of the committee judged that uncertainty about the medium-term outlook had increased… In Asia, mainland Chinese markets slumped mildly on their first day back from the New Year holiday on Monday, but Japanese markets surged while U.S. markets were closed. Japanese stocks extended those gains Tuesday and China’s Shanghai composite added over 3% after China released money supply growth data for January that exceeded expectations. Later in the week, it was reported that China’s consumer price index rose 1.8% in January from a year earlier and the producer price index fell 5.3%, which was mostly in line with expectations.

Japan’s trade surplus hit its highest level in four years, as exports rose 0.6% and imports fell 1.1% in January compared to the previous month. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal reported that China’s top securities regulator, Xiao Gang, is stepping down as chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission. Despite declines on Friday, most Asian averages saw weekly gains, with Japan’s Nikkei ending the week nearly 7% higher and stocks in Shanghai rising over 3%… In Europe, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron struck a deal that paves the way for Britons to vote on whether to remain in the European Union.