In the end, markets grow used to everything. The financial world has come to treat the U.S. incursion into Venezuela as something of a non-event. The usual indicators tell the story: bond yields remained unmoved, equities climbed, and the so-called fear gauge - the VIX - barely flickered. The world, it seems, has already moved on. Case in point: Donald Trump's latest provocation about Greenland. The U.S. President remains unbothered by the international uproar. If anything, he finds it entertaining. As The Guardian's cartoonist Ben Jennings neatly captured, a machine gun-toting Trump remarks, "What are you all crying about? I was always like this."

On Wall Street, business is business. The Venezuelan episode triggered all the usual mechanisms. U.S. oil majors and their sprawling support industries enjoyed a banner day. Valero and Schlumberger surged by 9%, Phillips 66 rose 7%, and Chevron gained 5%. The presumed takeover of Venezuela is expected to give American oil companies access to the country's vast reserves, roughly 18% of the world's proven oil reserves, more than Saudi Arabia's 16%. On paper at least, as the on-the-ground reality may prove trickier, as my colleague Kevin Smith noted yesterday. Still, investors piled in, convinced there was fat to be had, particularly for oilfield service firms likely to be enlisted to rehabilitate Venezuela's decaying petrochemical infrastructure. The country's oil output has dwindled to a third of its late-1990s level. Moreover, the White House has hinted it may provide financial backing for investments made by the industry.

The other sector to benefit logically from the weekend's events was defence. Leading U.S. contractors like Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics saw strong gains. Earlier in the day, their European counterparts set the tone, with BAE Systems, Rheinmetall and Thales all rising over 4%. Defence firms have already capitalised on the global rearmament trend since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the second half of 2025, their shares cooled somewhat amid hopes for peace in Ukraine. But today's geopolitical reality, and the United States' new doctrine, have reignited interest in the sector, still viewed by financiers as a must-have.

On both sides of the Atlantic, energy and defence helped keep indices in positive territory yesterday during the second trading session of 2026. The Stoxx Europe 600 closed up 0.9%, while the S&P 500 added 0.64%. Tech stocks fared better in Europe than in the U.S. Investors remain hungry for artificial intelligence, but are now seeking alternatives to the overcrowded bets on large American caps. As a result, they are shifting towards less richly valued markets, notably in Europe and Hong Kong.

Today's macroeconomic focus will be on December inflation figures across several European countries. In commodities, copper breached the USD 13,000 per tonne mark for the first time. The industrial metal has become the star of recent months, driven by surging demand from the data centre construction frenzy. Speculation has also been stoked by U.S. companies stockpiling supplies in anticipation of the Trump administration's threat to impose tariffs on refined metals.

In Asia-Pacific this morning, technology continues to support Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China. Australia (-0.5%) and India (-0.4%) remain laggards. Europe is expected to open in the green.

Today's economic highlights: 

See the full calendar here.

  • GBP / USD: US$1.36
  • Gold: US$4,465.98
  • Crude Oil (BRENT): US$61.59
  • United States 10 years: 4.18%
  • BITCOIN: US$93,550.3

In corporate news:

  • Jaguar Land Rover (Tata Motors) faced a 43.3% drop in wholesale volumes in Q3 due to production disruptions.
  • Nexsen appointed Richard Jarvis as the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
  • UniCredit increased its stake in Greece's Alpha Bank to 29.8% and purchased 1.5 million of its own shares for €107.8 million.
  • Eni is restructuring its refining business to enhance efficiency and support decarbonization while addressing challenges in recovering $6 billion in gas payments from Venezuela.
  • Pirelli and the Italian government are exploring strategies to divest Sinochem's 34% ownership due to U.S. pressure.
  • Eles Semiconductor Equipment has extended the revocation period for Xenon's revised bid, considering it financially appropriate.
  • Volkswagen faces employee concerns and a 36% drop in quarterly sales, totaling 36,233 vehicles.
  • A2A is under investigation by Italy's antitrust regulator for potentially abusing its dominant position in the EV charging market.
  • Goldman Sachs launched its secondaries advisory franchise in EMEA and completed a $665 million acquisition of Industry Ventures.
  • NVIDIA unveiled a comprehensive suite of AI chips and platforms at CES 2026, boosting tech stock interest.
  • AMD introduced new MI455 GPU chips at CES 2026, driving investor interest in tech stocks.
  • Intel announced the shipment of its first 18A processors by end-2025 and introduced new AI and gaming technologies at CES.
  • Uber unveiled production-ready robotaxi vehicles at CES 2026, marking advancements in autonomous vehicle technology.
  • RTX Corp and Indra Sistemas secured $438 million in contracts from the U.S. FAA for air traffic control radar modernization.

See more news from UK listed companies here

Analyst Recommendations:

  • Persimmon Plc: Rothschild & Co Redburn maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from GBX 1530 to GBX 1680.
  • Vistry Group Plc: Rothschild & Co Redburn maintains its neutral recommendation and reduces the target price from GBX 685 to GBX 675.
  • The Berkeley Group Holdings Plc: Rothschild & Co Redburn maintains its neutral recommendation and reduces the target price from GBX 4220 to GBX 4200.
  • Bellway P.l.c.: Rothschild & Co Redburn maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from GBX 3200 to GBX 3150.
  • Mondi Plc: BNP Paribas maintains its neutral recommendation and reduces the target price from USD 24.50 to USD 23.60.
  • Carnival Corporation & Plc: Bernstein maintains its market perform recommendation and raises the target price from GBX 1828.17 to GBX 2448.83.
  • Diageo Plc: RBC Capital upgrades to outperform from sector perform with a target price of GBX 2000.
  • Rentokil Initial Plc: Morgan Stanley upgrades to overweight from equalwt with a price target raised from GBX 450 to GBX 520.
  • Ashtead Group Plc: Morgan Stanley maintains its overweight recommendation and raises the target price from GBX 6000 to GBX 6200.
  • Dcc Plc: Morgan Stanley downgrades to market weight from overweight and reduces the target price from GBX 6150 to GBX 5750.
  • Lloyds Banking Group Plc: Jefferies maintains its buy recommendation and raises the target price from GBX 105 to GBX 119.
  • Watches Of Switzerland Group Plc: UBS maintains its neutral recommendation and raises the target price from GBX 505 to GBX 510.
  • Burberry Group Plc: UBS maintains its buy recommendation and reduces the target price from GBX 1575 to GBX 1570.