United States stock futures rose slightly on Sunday evening (Monday AEDT) following the United States attack on Venezuela and the capture of its president.
S&P 500 futures gained 0.1% to 6,906.25 by 10:10 am AEDT, Dow Jones futures were largely flat at 48,636.00 and Nasdaq futures were up 0.2% to 25,444.50.
On Friday (Saturday AEDT), the S&P 500 was up 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite was flat.
The U.S. launched a military strike on Venezuela on Saturday, and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores to stand trial in New York on drug trafficking and weapons charges.
While U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. oil companies were set to spend billions of dollars to modernise Venezuela’s oil industry, companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips have not publicly committed to doing so.
According to Chevron, the only U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela, it “remains focused on the safety and wellbeing of our employees, as well as the integrity of our assets. We continue to operate in full compliance with all relevant laws and regulations.”
The U.S. will use its ongoing blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering or exiting Venezuela to push for policy changes in the country, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
The strike on Venezuela killed at least 80 people, including civilians and Venezuelan military and security personnel. A number of legal experts have said the attack would violate the United Nations charter.
Meanwhile, Intel gained 2.5% in premarket trading, continuing its 6.7% rise from Friday. The company will unveil its new Core Ultra Series 3 processors this week.
Tesla also rose 1.8%, reversing part of its 2.6% loss on Friday after its fourth quarter deliveries fell short of estimates.
