QUICK HITS

1 Stocks climb: Stocks hit alltime highs in the run-up to the U.S. jobs report, with investors betting some of the world’s major central banks will start slashing interest rates as soon as June. Those wagers emboldened equity bulls expecting lower borrowing costs will fuel corporate profits. While tech remained in the leadership position, an equal-weighted version of the S&P 500 — where the likes of Nvidia Corp. carry the same heft as Dollar Tree Inc. — hovered near a record. That gauge is less sensitive to gains from the largest companies, providing a glimpse of hope that the rally will broaden out.

2 Regulatory proposal criticized by banks will be revised: A sweeping bank regulatory proposal will be significantly revised by year’s end, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday, a potential victory for the large banks that have aggressively opposed the likely changes. The proposed rule, issued last summer by the Fed and other regulatory agencies, is intended to implement changes that were negotiated internationally after the 2008 global financial crisis.

3 Former Ukraine military head appointed to U.K. ambassador role: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appointed his former military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, to become Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain — a next step outside of the military for Zaluzhny a month after he was replaced. Zaluzhny was offered the post last month but didn’t immediately accept, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

4 FCC opens formal investigation into massive AT&T outage: The Federal Communications Commission has opened a formal investigation into last month’s nationwide AT&T outage that left millions of people without cellphone service for hours. The outage left many AT&T customers without cellphone service for much of the morning and early afternoon Feb. 22.

5 Earth posts warmest February: The Earth just observed its warmest February, setting a monthly record for the ninth time in a row, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Wednesday. The unrelenting and exceptional global warmth — fueled by a combination of human-caused warming and the El Niño climate pattern — has spanned land and ocean areas since June.