Peter Nurse    

Investing.com — U.S. shares open higher Monday after Russia-Ukraine diplomatic negotiations resume. But investors are still cautious before the eagerly awaited Federal Reserve policy decision meeting.

The contract traded at 1.1% and was trading 38 points higher, or 0.9%, by 7:05 AM ET (1200 GMT). It also climbed 80 percent, or 0.6%, to reach 0.6%.

With hopes, though not fully realized, that there will be progress towards a ceasefire, Monday’s fourth round in talks between Russia and Ukraine is taking place. The fourth round follows statements by Wendy R. Sherman (Deputy Secretary of State), on Sunday, which indicated that Russia might show signs of willingness to engage in negotiations.

Last week’s blue chip decline of 2% was its fifth consecutive negative week. The and dropped 3.5% and 2.9% respectively last week. All of these indices are now in correction territory and more than 10% lower than their highs.

The S&P 500 Index will end 2022 about 1% lower, said Goldman Sachs, in a note, trimming its year-end target for the benchmark index to 4,700 from 4,900, citing the surge in commodity prices on the back of the conflict in Ukraine.

Aside from the events in Eastern Europe, the main focus this week will be on Wednesday’s policy meeting.

Widely expected, the U.S. central banks will raise interest rates 25 basis points. This is its first increase since 2018. This is likely to be the start of a series of interest rate increases, with inflation rising last week to 7.9%, a 40-year high and far above the Fed’s 2% target.

Jerome Powell, the Fed chairman will make comments following this decision. This is because of the uncertain economic outlook due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict which has exacerbated global supply disruptions.

U.S. and China are set to hold their first high-level, in-person talks since Russia’s invasion later Monday after U.S. officials over the weekend said Moscow had asked Beijing for military ​equipment in the early stages of the war.

Also prompting further caution was the news of surging , with the mainland reporting the highest daily figure in two years on Sunday, prompting the lockdown of the city of Shenzhen, the country’s main tech hub.

Tencent Holdings’ (OTC:) name is expected to make headlines in corporate news after Wall Street Journal revealed that Tencent Holdings may be facing a record fine for violating central bank regulations through its WeChat Pay network.

China’s tech sector traded lower Monday as fears rose that a few companies would be removed from New York City for failing to meet auditing standards.

Oil prices weakened Monday, extending last week’s decline on hopes for progress in the diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine war as well as the Chinese Covid lockdown. 

Futures were trading 4.9% lower at $104.03 per barrel by 7:01 AM ET while contract prices fell 3.9% to $108.28 

The price fell to $1,965.30/oz and traded 0.5% lower at 1.0964.