US stock futures leaned higher on Monday as investors assessed geopolitical developments following a US military operation in Venezuela that led to the removal and arrest of President Nicolás Maduro.
Contracts on the S&P 500 (ES=F) ticked up 0.1%. while those on the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) added roughly 0.4%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures (YM=F) traded broadly flat, following a mixed end to Friday’s session.
The US military action in Venezuela early into the weekend took focus as markets headed into the first full trading week of the new year.
President Trump said Saturday that the US would “run” Venezuela “until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition.” On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a more measured tone, saying the US has “a tremendous amount of leverage” to achieve its objectives while stopping short of saying Washington would directly govern the country.
Market strategists largely downplayed the long-term economic fallout. Venezuela currently produces less than 1 million barrels of oil per day, under 1% of global output, limiting the potential impact on energy markets.
However, supply concerns in the immediate future indicate a likely rise for oil prices in the coming days. West Texas Intermediate (CL=F) crude oil, the US benchmark, and international benchmark Brent (BZ=F) crude both nudged lower late Sunday.
Meanwhile, investors are getting ready to welcome the return of a back-to-normal flow of economic data this week, with the highlight the crucial jobs report due Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect payroll growth of about 55,000 in December.
And after a strong start to the year for chipmakers, eyes will be on Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) as well as on the CES tech show in Las Vegas, which starts Tuesday.
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