The China Mail - Chevron helps lift Dow to record as oil market weighs Venezuela shake-up

The shake-up in Venezuela also sparked a rally in petroleum giant Chevron, which helped lift the blue-chip Dow index to a fresh all-time high after London's FTSE 100 had earlier closed at a record.

Following a more than five percent gain in Chevron, the Dow ended at 48,977.8, up 1.2 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 and Nasdaq also finished solidly higher.

Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management attributed the sunny session in part to an infusion of new investor optimism after a sleepy end to 2025.

"We're coming into the first full week of trading in a while and a week of fresh economic data," Hogan said. "It's kind of a fresh look. Investors seem to be seeing more positives than negatives."

Besides Chevron, oil services giant Halliburton jumped 7.8 percent, while producers ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil also rose.

Defense stocks also progressed, along with several leading tech names in the spotlight at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Oil prices themselves experienced a rollercoaster ride as markets assessed the weekend's dramatic events.

Having spiked in an initial reaction to the military operation to apprehend Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, oil prices proceeded to drop on speculation that Venezuela -- which sits on about a fifth of the world's oil reserves -- could crank up production quickly, adding to an existing supply glut.

But then oil prices recovered again as investors realized that Venezuela is in no position to make a meaningful impact on oil supply in the short run, even with all the investment that US President Donald Trump has promised.

Despite Trump's "obvious desire for US oil companies to ramp up activity in Venezuela, lower oil prices and political uncertainty will frustrate efforts to exploit its vast energy potential," predicted David Oxley, chief climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

"It would take years, and massive investment, to bring Venezuela's oil production back to pre-crisis levels," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst with Swissquote.

Oil prices finished up 1.7 percent.

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, at around 303 billion barrels, according to OPEC.

But years of underinvestment and US sanctions have led to Venezuela producing less than one million barrels per day.

"We would see additional barrels from Venezuela going to, let's say, from one million barrels per day to two million barrels per day, only after five to seven years," Jorge Leon, head of geopolitical analysis at Rystad Energy, told AFP.

In European trading, London's FTSE 100 closed above the 10,000-point level for the first time.

Safe-haven investments gold and silver rose on increased geopolitical risk in the wake of the US invasion.

The first full week of business for 2026 will see the release of key US jobs data that could play a role in the Federal Reserve's decision-making on borrowing costs.

- Key figures at around 2110 GMT -

Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.7 percent at $61.76 per barrel

West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.7 percent at $58.32 per barrel

New York - Dow: UP 1.2 percent at 48,977.18 (close)

New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,902.05 (close)

New York - Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.7 percent at 23,395.82 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 0.5 percent at 10,004.57 (close)

Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,211.50 (close)

Frankfurt - DAX: UP 1.3 percent at 24,856.32 (close)

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 3.0 percent at 51,832.80 (close)

Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 26,347.24 (close)

Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.4 percent at 4,023.42 (close)

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1714 from $1.1719 on Friday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3525 from $1.3456

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 156.31 yen from 156.84 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 86.57 pence from 87.08 pence

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