BANGKOK (AP) — Oil prices edged higher early Monday in Asian trading, while the prices of precious metals surged as markets registered a mixed reaction to the U.S. 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. U.S. futures were mixed after eking out small gains on Friday.
Shortly after trading began, U.S. benchmark crude oil was up 12 cents at $57.44 per barrel, while Brent crude gained 14 cents to $60.89 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.
In any case, the U.S. move was reverberating through financial markets.
The price of gold rose 2%, while silver jumped 6%. Platinum also was up 6%. Investors often use such assets as safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil.
Share prices in Asia shot sharply higher.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 2.9% to 51,777.99. The index closed at a year end high for 2025 and only resumed trading on Monday.
South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.3% to 4,406.55. It had ended Friday with a record high close.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% to 8,735.60, while Taiwan’s benchmark climbed 2.1%.
In other trading early Monday, the dollar rose 0.2% to 157.15 Japanese yen. The euro slipped 0.2% to $1.1702.
On Friday, U.S. 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%, to 6,858.47, coming off a gain of more than 16% in 2025.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7% to 48,382.39, while the Nasdaq composite fell less than 0.1%, to 23,235.63. The index was weighed down by a 2.2% loss for Microsoft and a 2.6% 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% and Wayfair rose 6.1%.
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 U.S. 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 U.S. economy closed out 2025 and where it might be headed in 2026.
