U.S. Stock Market Close | All three major indices rose, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting a record high; most large-cap technology stocks advanced, Tesla surged over 3%, and Amazon gained nearly 3%; cryptocurrency-related stocks and energy sha

The news of Venezuelan President Maduro’s capture was interpreted as a signal that the ‘worst-case scenario’ of regional conflict had been avoided, releasing suppressed risk appetite. Both U.S. stocks and bonds rose, commodities and crypto assets also performed well, with the only weak spot being the U.S. Dollar Index.

Although the potential return of Venezuela’s crude oil supply is seen as a medium- to long-term bearish factor, traders are clearly more focused on the short-term reality, causing crude oil prices to fall initially before rebounding. Amrita Sen, founder of Energy Aspects, pointed out:

With exports already halved and sanctions still in place, there is no new crude oil entering the market in the short term. Meanwhile, record levels of short positions have accumulated in the market, and the extremely pessimistic positioning has provided an excellent foundation for price rebounds.

At the same time, the market appears to be increasingly fatigued by geopolitical risk premiums, preferring instead to price in certainty as it materializes. Most traders tend to believe that the risk of total loss of control has been temporarily averted. This judgment that ‘bad news hasn’t gotten worse’ triggered a rally in risk assets. Adrian Helfert, Chief Investment Officer of Westwood, stated:

The case for bullish equities remains intact. Unless a chain of geopolitical events occurs, the overall market should completely disregard the situation in Venezuela.

All three major U.S. stock indexes moved higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly surpassing 49,000 points for the first time during the session. Although gains moderated later, it still reached a new historical high, while small-cap indices experienced a notable short squeeze.

Following U.S. President Trump’s statement that major American oil companies would invest in Venezuela, shares of oil companies such as Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil rose. Goldman Sachs’ U.S. Geopolitical Risk Portfolio, which includes 40% defense stocks, 40% oil producers, and 20% oil tankers, surged significantly in early 2026.

From a capital structure perspective, by the end of 2025, the market’s defensive stance had reached its peak. Hedge funds were net selling global equities at their fastest pace since April last year at the end of the year, with macro products becoming the primary short target. The scale of ETF short positions increased significantly in December, with small caps, technology, and corporate bonds being the areas most targeted.

As a result, the worst-case scenario did not materialize during the holiday period. Small-cap stocks, which had been suppressed for a prolonged period, became the first to be repositioned in 2026. As John Flade, top trader at Goldman Sachs, pointed out:

We are observing passive buying demand in the financial and energy sectors, while short positions in macro products have been forced to retreat. CTA funds continue to purchase U.S. equities according to their models.

In terms of macroeconomic data, U.S. manufacturing activity in December showed its largest contraction since 2024. Amid risk-averse sentiment, U.S. Treasury yields fell broadly, with the 10-year yield declining further by 4.3 basis points following the data release.

In an environment characterized by a pullback in the U.S. dollar and lingering geopolitical uncertainty, precious metal assets with strategic and physical attributes have regained favor. Spot gold broke through $4,400 per ounce, while spot silver surged by 5%. New York silver skyrocketed nearly 10% intraday. Copper prices continued to rise amid concerns over pre-tariff stockpiling and supply disruptions.

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher on Monday. Following Trump’s statement that major American oil companies would invest in Venezuela, shares of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil rose. Elon Musk announced Neuralink’s move toward mass production in 2026, driving up related concept stocks, with Tesla leading the Mag 7 higher.

Benchmark US Equity Indices:

• The S&P 500 Index rose 43.58 points, or 0.64%, to close at 6902.05.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 594.79 points, or 1.23%, to close at 48977.18, briefly surpassing 49000 intraday for the first time.

• The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed 160.193 points, or 0.69%, to end at 23395.822. The Nasdaq 100 Index advanced 195.152 points, or 0.77%, to close at 25401.32.

• The Russell 2000 Index added 1.58% to close at 2547.92.

• The VIX volatility index, often referred to as the ‘fear gauge,’ declined 2.94% to close at 14.51.

U.S. Sector ETFs:

• The S&P Energy sector rose by 2.72%, the AI robotics sector increased by 2.45%, and the regional banking, financial index, and banking sectors all surged over 2%.

Mag 7:

• The Mag 7 index rose by 0.30% to close at 207.04 points, showing an overall trend of opening higher and closing lower.

• Tesla closed up 3.10%, Amazon rose 2.9%, Meta gained 1.29%, Google A increased by 0.44%, Microsoft fell 0.02%, NVIDIA dropped 0.39%, and Apple declined 1.38%.

Chip Stocks:

• The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index closed up 1.07% at 7446.454 points.

• Taiwan Semiconductor rose 0.83%, while AMD fell 1.07%.

Chinese Concept Stocks:

• The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 0.5%.

• Among popular Chinese stocks, WeRide and PDD Holdings closed up 3%, Pony AI rose 2.6%, Meituan gained 1.9%, while Li Auto, Tencent, JD.com, and Alibaba recorded gains of less than 1%.

Cryptocurrency-related stocks:

• As Bitcoin prices hit a high point in over three weeks, cryptocurrency-related stocks generally rose. Strategy’s share price increased by nearly 5%, while Coinbase surged by 7.8%.

Other stocks:

• Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares rose 0.34%, while Eli Lilly and Co fell 3.6%.

• Qualcomm closed up 1.93%, Salesforce rose 1.04%, Netflix increased by 0.53%, while Adobe fell 0.52%, Broadcom dropped 1.21%, and Oracle declined 1.59%.

The European STOXX 600 Index surpassed the 600-point threshold, closing at a record high. Defense stock RHM surged over 9.3%. The German index, Spanish market, and Italian banking sector hit new closing highs, with the UK index closing above the psychological 10,000-point level for the first time.

Pan-European Indices:

• The European STOXX 600 Index closed up 0.94% at 601.76 points, surpassing the psychological 600-point threshold for the first time in its history.

• The Eurozone STOXX 50 Index closed up 1.25% at 5,923.69 points, continuing to reach a record closing high.

National indices:

• The German DAX 30 Index closed up 1.34% at 24,868.69 points, surpassing the previous record closing high of 24,611.25 points set on October 9, 2025.

• The French CAC 40 Index closed up 0.20% at 8,211.50 points.

• The UK FTSE 100 Index closed up 0.54% at 10,004.57 points, the FTSE 250 Index rose 0.82%, and the FTSE 350 Index gained 0.57%.

Sector and Stock Performance:

• Among Eurozone blue chips, Germany’s Rheinmetall (RHM) closed up 9.36%, ASML Holding rose 6.78%, Wolters Kluwer increased by 4.68%, and Infineon Technologies’ 4.30% gain ranked fourth in performance.

• Among all constituents of the European STOXX 600 Index, VAT Group closed up 12.10%, InPost SA rose 11.44%, Indra Information Technology gained 9.68%, RHM ranked fourth, and Renk Group increased by 8.03% to rank seventh.

U.S. Treasury yields fell broadly, with the 10-year yield declining by 4.3 basis points. Monday’s release of U.S. December manufacturing activity data showed its largest contraction since 2024.

U.S. Treasury Bonds:

• At the New York close, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield dropped by 3.34 basis points to 4.1573%.

• The two-year U.S. Treasury yield fell by 2.05 basis points to 3.4528%; the 30-year U.S. Treasury yield declined by 2.25 basis points to 4.8477%.

Eurozone bonds:

• At the European market close, the German 10-year government bond yield fell by 3.0 basis points to 2.870%, trading within a range of 2.906%-2.869% during the day.

• The UK 10-year government bond yield dropped by 3.0 basis points to 4.506%. The French 10-year government bond yield fell by 3.9 basis points.

The U.S. Dollar Index declined, erasing gains driven by short-term risk aversion. The Japanese yen strengthened by 0.3%, nearing the 156 level. Bitcoin rebounded near $95,000, remaining above the 50-day moving average. Ethereum surpassed the $3,200 mark for the first time in a month.

US Dollar:

• At the New York close, the ICE U.S. Dollar Index fell by 0.17%, hitting a fresh daily low at 98.259 points. Earlier in the day, it had risen continuously, reaching a high of 98.861 points at 21:42 Beijing time before retreating rapidly.

• The Bloomberg Dollar Index fell by 0.13% to 1,202.93 points, trading within a range of 1,209.04-1,202.58 points during the day.

Non-US currencies:

• In late New York trading, the euro rose 0.04% against the dollar to 1.1724, exhibiting a U-shaped reversal throughout the day.

• The pound rose 0.65% against the dollar to 1.1343. The dollar fell 0.08% against the Swiss franc to 0.7917.

• Among commodity currencies, the Australian dollar rose 0.34% against the dollar, the New Zealand dollar rose 0.37% against the dollar, and the dollar rose 0.24% against the Canadian dollar.

Japanese Yen:

• In late New York trading, the dollar fell 0.37% against the yen to 156.26 yen, with intraday trading ranging between 157.30 and 156.12 yen.

• The euro fell 0.32% against the yen, while the pound rose 0.30% against the yen.

Offshore Renminbi:

• In late New York trading, the dollar was at 6.9835 yuan against the offshore renminbi, up 132 points from last Friday’s close, with overall intraday trading in the range of 6.9696 to 6.9918 yuan.

Cryptocurrencies:

Crude oil prices initially fell before rebounding as traders weighed the impact of short-term export disruptions in Venezuela against the possibility of increased crude production. Analysis suggests that while Venezuela’s oil output may increase over the medium term, significant growth is unlikely in the short term.

Crude oil:

Natural Gas:

Precious metals saw significant gains, with spot gold rising over 2.5% and spot silver surging 5%. Silver futures in New York once skyrocketed nearly 10% intraday. Copper prices hit a new all-time high, with London copper crossing $13,000 for the first time.

Gold:

Silver:

• In late New York trading, spot silver increased by 5.13% to $76.5495 per ounce, remaining stable around $76 for most of the day.

• COMEX silver futures surged 7.63% to $76.430 per ounce.

Other metals:

• In late New York trading, COMEX copper futures climbed 5.16% to $5.9850 per pound.

• Spot platinum advanced 6.32% to $2,277.67 per ounce, while spot palladium gained 4.92% to $1,716.85 per ounce.

• LME copper closed up $522 at $12,992 per tonne. LME aluminum ended $70 higher at $3,086 per tonne. LME tin finished up $2,057 at $42,466 per tonne.

Editor/Jayden