Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com. U.S. stock markets were generally lower in New York morning trade, with traders worried about Ukraine’s future ahead of a crucial phone call between U.S. presidents and Chinese leaders.

Joe Biden will meet Xi Jinping in the morning ET. According to Anthony Blinken Secretary of State, he will tell him that the U.S. would retaliate against China if it’s – at this point only verbal – support for Russia becomes more concrete. Officials from the United States claim that Russia requested military assistance earlier. This is likely because of the huge losses in equipment it sustained as a result of the surprisingly strong resistance by Ukraine. 

This week, the U.S. authorized $800 million of military assistance to Ukraine.

Biden may also warn Xi not to try to ease the sanctions the West has imposed upon Russia since the invasion of three weeks ago.

At 7:25 AM ET (1135 GMT) the indices were at 0.7% and 0.8% respectively. They were also down 0.9% and 0.8%. The relief rally following the Federal Reserve’s third interest rate increase in three years had seen all three indices make solid, back-to-back gains the previous two days.

Charles Evans, the Chicago Fed president, and Tom Barkin from Richmond are likely to discuss this move later. Fed Governor Michelle Bowman may also comment.  There is not much on the data calendar following a hectic week in economic news. However, the only indication of interest are the existing home sales for February.

Premarket trade saw GameStop (NYSE 🙂 move in individual stocks. The stock reported a surprising loss for its holiday quarter following the bell. Analysts were expecting a profit in the range of 85c per share. 

Apple (NASDAQ.) stock is likely to also be of interest, as Porsche CEO Oliver Blume stated that it was in discussions with Apple about possible projects. The news revived interest around Apple’s long-awaited-but-never-confirmed foray into automobiles.

The dollar moved back to a 2-year high after the Bank of Japan raised concerns about a potential hit to Japan’s economy due to a conflict that may lead to higher prices for raw materials. However, Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ Governor, indicated that he was not concerned by the weakening yen. It was 0.4% higher at 98.365. This is a significant improvement against both the yen and the dollar.

Prices for crude oil continued to rise amid concerns that war might drag on or even escalate. An American warning to Russia about using chemical weapons was issued. Analysts see this as possible, given Russia’s struggle with conventional forces. Futures rose by 1.0% at $104.04/barrel, and was 0.9% at $107.60/barrel.

At $1,938.30 an troy ounce, they were lower by 0.3%