FX.co ★ Energy Rally Drives US Stocks Higher

On Monday, U.S. stocks experienced an uptick at the beginning of the year's first complete trading week. The major indices saw gains of approximately 0.6%, primarily driven by a significant rise in the energy sector. This movement followed the recent capture of Venezuela's President Maduro and his spouse by U.S. forces over the weekend, as President Trump proposed a U.S.-led initiative to revitalize Venezuela's oil industry. Notable performances within the sector included Chevron climbing by 4.6%, Exxon Mobil up 2%, and ConocoPhillips advancing by 5.4%. Additional sectors such as consumer discretionary, industrials, and financials posted gains, whereas consumer staples did not perform as strongly. Semiconductor stocks also saw an increase, with Nvidia rising by 1.7%, AMD by 2.6%, and Micron Technology by 0.2%. Other large-cap stocks had mixed results, with Amazon (+1.1%), Meta (+0.9%), Alphabet (+0.5%), and Tesla (+3%) advancing, while Microsoft (-0.3%), Apple (-1%), and Broadcom (-1.4%) experienced declines. Investors are keenly anticipating a week rich in U.S. economic data releases, culminating with the December jobs report slated for Friday.