MARKET SNAPSHOT
U.S. stocks jumped, led by energy and defense following the U.S. ouster of Venezuela's president. Treasury yields declined as investors awaited December jobs data. The dollar rose. Gold and oil settled higher.
MARKET WRAPS
EQUITIES
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose to a new high after the U.S. ousted Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, and President Trump pledged American drillers would revive the country's crude production.
The moves helped boost indexes, as did surges in growth stocks such as Tesla, Amazon and Palantir. The Dow industrials led gains among major benchmarks, rising 1.2% to 48977, after spending much of the session above 49000.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite advanced 0.7%.
Oilfield-services stocks like Baker Hughes leapt, alongside refiners such as Valero. Chevron, the last remaining U.S. oil major in Venezuela, gained, as did rivals ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil, which pulled out of Venezuela nearly 20 years ago. The prospect of greater geopolitical tensions lifted global defense stocks.
Asian markets were mixed.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite gained 1.4% with gains for semiconductor companies. The Shenzhen Composite Index ended 2% higher, while the ChiNext Price Index rose 2.9%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng traded flat.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 3% on gains for industrials and utilities.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 closed flat.
New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 increased by 0.3%.
COMMODITIES
Oil futures posted gains as the market sees it taking time for Venezuela to lift production following the removal of President Nicolas Maduro.
"It will take a long time to shake out the impact regarding oil supplies and hence, petroleum pricing," Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note. "We believe that there will be negligible effect on oil futures for at least a couple of months given the ongoing embargo on sanctioned cargoes and numerous legal and logistical challenges that will take a long time to work out."
On Sunday, OPEC+ reaffirmed its decision to hold output through the first quarter in a meeting that was overshadowed by the Venezuelan events.
WTI settled up 1.7% at $58.32 a barrel after falling to $56.31 overnight. Brent rose 1.7% to $61.76, up from the session's $59.75 low.
Front-month gold settled 2.8% higher on heightened geopolitical risks following the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES
U.S. Factory Activity Slides Unexpectedly
U.S. factory activity fell in December, against expectations, amid a pullback in production and inventories, according to a survey of manufacturing firms.
The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its purchasing managers index of manufacturing activity fell to 47.9 in the month, compared with 48.2 in November. A consensus of economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a reading of 48.3.
A reading below 50 points to contraction in activity in the sector for the 10th month in a row. Still, a score above 42.3, over a period, generally tallies with expansion in the wider U.S. economy.
Paying over $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela's oil industry won't be the biggest obstacle facing U.S. oil companies
For the oil market, the hype is real - the U.S. now appears to have an opportunity to more freely access crude from Venezuela, a country that's widely accepted to be home to the world's largest oil reserves.
The problem, however, might be a reluctance by major U.S. oil companies to simply jump back into the country without reassurances that the South American nation will enjoy greater political stability.
President Donald Trump said that following the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, U.S. oil companies will go into Venezuela and "spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure - the oil infrastructure - and start making money for the country."
Silver and gold are the big winners as investors look for safety following the U.S. intervention in Venezuela
Gold and silver emerged as the big winners of flight-to-safety trades by investors on Monday following the U.S. intervention in Venezuela - helping to alleviate concerns about their steep price climbs in 2025 and whether a correction might be in store for the new year.
Investors flocked to precious metals as part of a longer-term trend of seeking alternatives to the U.S. dollar and U.S. government debt following periods of American military action. Gold for February delivery GC00 GCG26 spiked almost 3% to roughly $4,450 an ounce on Monday, following a more than 60% surge in prices last year. Silver SI00 for delivery next month SIG26 rose 6.6% to $75.50 an ounce after prices more than doubled in 2025.
U.S. Companies Score Wins in Global Tax Deal
WASHINGTON-The Trump administration won international tax-policy concessions sought by Republicans and companies, reshaping the Biden-era global corporate minimum-tax deal without abandoning it.
The U.S. had threatened to blow up the agreement last year, warning that it interfered with the nation's prerogative to set its own tax policy. That prompted other countries to seek a path that would accommodate concerns from President Trump and congressional Republicans. The U.S. paused those threats in late June and the administration stayed at the negotiating table for the rest of 2025 to reach the consensus announced Monday by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The updated agreement achieves two main U.S. aims. First, it prevents other countries from imposing taxes on American companies based on the idea that U.S. companies pay too little tax on their U.S. operations. Second, it makes minimum-tax math more favorable to the U.S. research-and-development tax credit and similar incentives elsewhere.
BlueScope Steel Gets $8.8 Billion Takeover Offer From SGH, Steel Dynamics
BlueScope Steel has received a takeover offer from Australia's SGH and U.S.-based Steel Dynamics that values the steelmaker's equity at 13.2 billion Australian dollars, equivalent to US$8.8 billion.
Under the proposal, SGH would acquire all of BlueScope's shares and then sell BlueScope's North American businesses to Steel Dynamics.
BlueScope shareholders would receive A$30 a share in cash, representing a 27% premium to the stock's last price before the offer was made on Dec. 12, the bidders said. The offer is 33% higher than the stock's three-month volume-weighted average.
GM, Toyota Hint at Tough Year Ahead for U.S. Auto Sales
General Motors and several rivals reported year-end sales slumps, an ominous sign that U.S. auto sales will slow this year as consumers push back on higher prices.
GM, the biggest automaker in the U.S. by sales and a bellwether for the U.S. industry, said Monday that sales fell 7% in the final quarter of 2025. Honda, Hyundai, Mazda and Nissan also said on Monday that their U.S. sales fell toward the end of the year.
The slowdown is expected to extend into this year. Analysts and automakers predict U.S. annual sales will fall in 2026 following three straight years of gains as belt-tightening American car buyers collide with tariff costs that companies probably won't keep absorbing.
Expected Major Events for Tuesday
00:30/HK: Dec Hong Kong Whole Economy PMI
00:30/SIN: Dec Singapore Whole Economy PMI
01:00/AUS: Dec VFACTS vehicle sales
01:00/PHI: Dec CPI
08:20/TAI: Dec International Reserves
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This article is a text version of a Wall Street Journal newsletter published earlier today.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 05, 2026 17:03 ET (22:03 GMT)
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