"It's people's lives. Real-life people are hurting and we can fix it," Biden said earlier. "When we help them we are also helping our competitive capacity," he said.
"The focus is broadly on the Middle East. I'm sure Iran will be a part of the discussion," Psaki told a White House briefing. "It's not a decisional meeting."
Democrats in the U.S. Senate were poised on Thursday to take a first step toward the ultimate passage of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief proposal.
The American Petroleum Institute reported US crude oil inventories fell by 4.3 million barrels in the week to Jan. 29, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a build of 446,000 barrels.
The Biden administration said it broadly shares worries about Iran, and said Tuesday it was "concerned" about the clerical regime's latest launch of a satellite-carrying rocket.
Alphabet, which will report the cost and operating profit of its Google Cloud business for the first time, added 1.5pc, while retail behemoth Amazon.com Inc rose 1.4pc.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.8pc, with financial stocks, mainly HSBC Holdings and Barclays PLC leading the gains. The mid-cap index added 1.5pc.
The White House put out a statement saying the United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar's democratic transition.