BANGKOK: Oil prices fell back Monday while the prices of precious metals surged as markets registered a mixed reaction to the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a weekend raid.
Share prices opened higher, with benchmarks in South Korea and Japan again setting fresh records. US futures were flat after stocks eked out small gains on Friday on Wall Street.
Shortly after trading began, US benchmark crude oil rose slightly. But it later traded 23 cents lower at USD 57.09 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gave up 17 cents to USD 60.58 per barrel.
After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuela's oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect Venezuela could double or triple its current output of about 1.1 million barrels of oil a day to return to historic levels fairly quickly.
With oil levels already plentiful, crude has been trading at its lowest level in about six months.
In any case, the US move was reverberating through financial markets as traders manoeuvred to account for the uncertainty brought on by President Donald Trump's unusual military operation and his insistence that the US will be running Venezuela following Maduro's ouster.
The price of gold rose 1.9 per cent, while silver jumped 5.7 per cent.
Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.
“Investors are happy to own risk, but they want insurance in the drawer. This is confidence with a hedge, not euphoria,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
Share prices in Asia shot sharply higher.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 3 per cent to 51,853.53. The index closed at a year-end high for 2025 and only resumed trading on Monday.
“Looking at the environment surrounding the markets, continuously, there are various risk factors. We must keep an eye on geopolitical risks in Ukraine, the Middle East and East Asia, the US-China trade war, monetary policies in other countries and their development, and corporate performance trends in Japan,” Hiromi Yamaji, CEO of the Japan Exchange Group, said in the traditional New Year opening ceremony.
South Korea's Kospi surged 3.1 per cent to 4,441.80. It had ended Friday with a record high close.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1 per cent to 8,733.30, while Taiwan's benchmark climbed 2.9 per cent.
In other trading early Monday, the dollar rose to 157.27 Japanese yen from 156.82 yen. The euro slipped to USD 1.1682 from USD 1.1726.
On Friday, US stocks eked out small gains on Wall Street in a wobbly but quiet day of trading to kick off the new year.
The S&P 500 rose 0.2 per cent, to 6,858.47, coming off a gain of more than 16 per cent in 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7 per cent to 48,382.39, while the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1 per cent, to 23,235.63. The index was weighed down by a 2.2 per cent loss for Microsoft and a 2.6 per cent decline for Tesla, after it reported falling sales for a second year in a row.
NVIDIA, Microsoft and Tesla are among the most valuable companies in the world, and their outsized valuations give them more influence on the stock market's direction. That includes sometimes pushing the market up and down from hour to hour.
Furniture companies gained ground following President Donald Trump's move to delay increased tariffs on upholstered furniture. RH rose 8 per cent and Wayfair rose 6.1 per cent.
This week is the first full week of the new year. It will bring several closely watched economic updates, some of the last big updates the Fed sees before its next meeting at the end of January.
On the agenda are private reports on the status of the services sector, which is the largest part of the US economy, along with consumer sentiment. Government reports on the job market will also be released. The hope is they'll help paint a clearer picture of how various parts of the US economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.