investingLive European markets wrap: Dollar steady, metals jump on Venezuela situation

Headlines:

• China and Russia response the next thing to watch on the Venezuela situation
• Oil prices fall as US captures Maduro, Trump orders companies to restore Venezuela’s oil
• China responds to Venezuela situation, urges for immediate release of Maduro
• Gold Technical Analysis: Venezuela events pushed prices up but US NFP the next risk event
• Dollar holds firmer as we officially get the new year underway
• USD/JPY pares gains, turns lower on the day with bigger range still in play
• DAX Technical Analysis: The German stock market touches a new all-time high, breakout eyed
• The 1st Bitcoin Technical Analysis of Year 2026 and Bulls are Back.
• UK net mortgage approvals fell slightly in November
• Switzerland December manufacturing PMI 45.8 vs 49.7 prior
• Market outlook for the week of 5th-9th January

Markets:

• JPY leads, EUR lags on the day
• European equities higher; S&P 500 futures up 0.3%
• US 10-year yields down 2.2 bps to 4.167%
• Gold up 1.9% to $4,413.49
• WTI crude oil up 0.8% to $57.80
• Bitcoin up 1.4% to $92,781

The US attack on Venezuela and capturing of Nicolás Maduro continues to be the main highlight since the weekend. But in terms of market reaction, there hasn’t been all too much drama.

Oil prices were sent for a ride with WTI crude sliding to $56.40 earlier on before recovering back the early losses to be up slightly at $57.80 now. Meanwhile, precious metals continue to rally hard in a continuation from the December mood as both gold and silver surged higher during the session. Start of the year market flows are definitely a factor here but geopolitical tensions so early in 2026 is definitely another key driver in helping to underpin precious metals.

Besides that, the dollar was also more bid on early safety flows but the gains have been easing a little now as the dust settles down. EUR/USD is still keeping lower by 0.3% to 1.1680 as the euro continues to lose ground since last week. Meanwhile, USD/JPY has dropped off from 157.30 to 156.60 now as the dollar gains ease up.

GBP/USD is also back near unchanged levels around 1.3465 after having fallen to 1.3415 earlier in the day while AUD/USD is down only 0.2% to 0.6680, off earlier lows of 0.6665.

In the equities space, stocks aren’t at all perturbed by the whole situation with European indices pushing gains on the day. Much of the early rally has dissipated though, so that’s something to be mindful about. The DAX had earlier touched a fresh record high at the open, being up 1% but has now dropped to hold gains of around 0.5% on the day.

Looking at US futures, the mood music is still more positive with S&P 500 futures up 0.3%. The more optimistic risk sentiment is also reflected in Bitcoin with the cryptocurrency pushing back above $92,000 to start the week. Punchy. 👊

There wasn’t any significant headlines in Europe to distract from the whole Venezuela situation. So, expect markets in US to stick to that as well with the other focal points this week being on start of the year positioning flows and the US non-farm payrolls on Friday.

On the former, we’re already seeing commodities light up with precious metals rallying strongly. Gold is up near 2% to $4,413 with the high earlier touching $4,439. Meanwhile, silver is not relenting in a push to $74.65 currently – up close to 3% on the day. The high for silver earlier touched $76.35. Burnin’ up. 🔥

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.