Stock futures and oil prices edged higher on Sunday evening as investors began to digest the implications of the U.S. military raid on Venezuela that captured Nicolas Maduro.
While the country has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, production has been waning for years amid U.S. sanctions, mismanagement by the Maduro regime, and underinvestment.
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Maduro’s removal will unleash a surge of investment in Venezuela’s oil industry and revive output, though analysts have said that could take years.
Meanwhile, Venezuela’s shrinking influence in the world’s oil landscape has Wall Street downplaying much near-term effects from U.S. intervention there.
“The physical global oil market situation remains the same. Oil prices have declined due to an oversupplied global oil market,” said Rob Hummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital Management, said in a note. “The current events in Venezuela don’t change this dynamic.”
U.S. oil futures rose 0.19% to $57.43 a barrel, and Brent crude climbed 0.28% to $60.92 a barrel, with both benchmarks reversing earlier losses.
OPEC+ also backed plans to keep production steady through the first quarter and hold off on any further hikes, as oil markets still face a supply glut.
Futures tied to the Dow Jones industrial average were essentially flat, down 5 points. S&P 500 futures were up 0.10%, and Nasdaq futures added 0.32%.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.191%. The U.S. dollar was up 0.14% against the euro and up 0.22% against the yen.
Gold rallied 1.7% to $4,403.70 per ounce, and silver jumped 5.4% to $74.86. Bitcoin edged up 2.3% to $92,265.
After the successful Venezuela raid, Trump said he is still eyeing Greenland and warned Cuba is “very similar” to the Maduro regime.
But the economic calendar may bring his focus back on the U.S. economy rather than more foreign adventures. The upcoming batch of numbers is also highly anticipated as they will largely be free from distortions related to the government shutdown.
On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management will release its manufacturing activity index. On Wednesday, ADP puts out its private-sector payroll report, and the Labor Department publishes job opening and turnover report.
And on Friday, the Labor Department will issue its monthly jobs report, with Wall Street expecting a gain of just 54,000 and another increase in the unemployment rate to 4.7%.
