Equities
Global markets extended gains as investors looked beyond upheaval in Venezuela and eyed momentum on Wall Street, where surging financials helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an all-time peak yesterday.
Wall Street futures were mixed after major U.S. markets closed higher yesterday.
TSX futures were little changed after Canada’s main stock market reached a fresh record high yesterday.
“It doesn’t look like [the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is] rattling the market in any serious way at all ... The market’s not pricing in an escalation of risk, not pricing in a ripple effect of [U.S. President Donald] Trump potentially delving into other South American countries,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior markets analyst at City Index.
“The general sense of the market is upbeat at the moment.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.45 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.22 per cent, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.29 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was flat.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.32 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.38 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rose as the market weighed expectations of ample global supply this year against uncertainty around Venezuelan crude output following U.S. military action there.
Brent crude futures gained 0.74 per cent to US$62.22, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was 0.7 per cent higher at $58.73 a barrel.
“It is premature to evaluate the impact of Nicolas Maduro’s capture on the oil balance. What seems obvious, nonetheless, is that oil supply will be sufficient in 2026, with or without an increase in production from the OPEC member,” said PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at US$4,461.09 an ounce after rising nearly 3 per cent yesterday. U.S. gold futures for February delivery rose 0.3 per cent to US$4,462.60.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.53 US cents to 72.72 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.57 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.1 per cent to 98.37.
The euro slipped 0.13 per cent to US$1.1708. The British pound declined 0.17 per cent to US$1.3521.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.178 per cent.
Economic news
The euro zone economy expanded at a slower pace last month but ended 2025 with its strongest quarterly growth in more than two years as solid momentum in services offset a manufacturing contraction, a new survey showed.
Germany and France inflation data for December
9:30 a.m. ET: Canada S&P global services PMI
9:45 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P global services/composite PMI
With Reuters and The Canadian Press