Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com — U.S. stocks opened lower Friday due to hawkish comments by a top Federal Reserve official. This raised concerns over an escalation in the conflict in Ukraine. 

The index had dropped 0.5% to 34,315 by 9:35 ET (1335 GMT) Parallel to the, both were lower. The Fed increased U.S. interest rates Wednesday and all three cash indexes made strong gains. They are expected to finish the week in positive territory. 

CNBC spoke with Christopher Waller, Fed Governor. He said the central bank might have to lift the target range for fed funds by 50 basis point (rather that 25 as expected) at its next meeting due to rising inflation pressures in America’s economy. Waller said only geopolitical factors, i.e. the conflict in Ukraine, had prevented the central bank from increasing the target range by 25 basis points this week.

Waller stated, “I favor frontloading rate increases…Just do it instead of just promising it.”

James Bullard, the St. Louis Fed president and outspokenly hawkish, had stated earlier that the Fed might need to increase rates by as much as 3% in order to control inflation which currently stands at an unprecedented 40-year high.

Fed-speak continues throughout the day. Guests include governor Michelle Bowman of Richmond, Tom Barkin from Richmond, and Charles Evans from Chicago. 

These comments are made at the conclusion of a week in which hopes for an immediate end to Ukraine’s war and a return to normal global commodity markets have receded. Russia expanded its attack on Ukraine’s capitals and China refused to accept Western attempts to isolate President Vladimir Putin’s regime. At 9:01 AM ET, Presidents Joe Biden & Xi Jinping started a conference call to discuss war and other topics.

Anthony Blinken (Secretary of State) said that Biden would clearly state the U.S.’s intention to impose costs on China, if it backs Russia more actively. For example, by sending military assistance to Russia. The U.S. has approved $800million in military aid for Ukraine, and the European Union has earmarked additional funds to assist Ukraine with its defense. 

GameStop stock (NYSE:) fell 5.6% on Thursday to reach a new 13-month low. This was after GameStop posted an unexpected loss of almost $150 million in the holiday quarter.