Stock futures are showing modest gains as the first full trading week of 2026. Energy and defense stocks have been among the early leaders after a dramatic weekend in geopolitics. The United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and traders appear to be pricing in potential long-term implications for U.S. oil access and defense spending, even as oil prices themselves have been mixed.
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The geopolitical shock has added a dose of uncertainty but has not triggered broad market panic. Instead, some investors are seeing it as a catalyst for sector rotation. Major U.S. oil companies and energy services firms are outperforming, while safe-haven assets like gold have jumped to multi-week highs as uncertainty rises. Precious metals are drawing renewed interest, with gold climbing over 2 % to the highest level in about a week, reflecting traditional haven demand as geopolitical risk reenters the market picture.
At the same time, the U.S. dollar has strengthened against major currencies as traders look past weekend developments toward a busy week of economic data including employment and manufacturing reports that could reshape the outlook for Federal Reserve policy in 2026.
In pre-market trading, S&P 500 futures rose 0.24%, Nasdaq futures rose 0.63% and Dow futures fell 0.02%.
Check out this morning’s top movers from around Wall Street, compiled by The Fly.
HIGHER –
- Incyte (INCY) up 3% after reporting its frontMIND trial met primary and secondary endpoints
- QXO (QXO) up 2% after $1.2B convertible equity investment led by Apollo Global (APO)
UP AFTER CAPTURE OF VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO –
LOWER –
- Mayville Engineering (MEC) down 1% after Northland downgraded the stock to Market Perform with an unchanged price target of $20
- Euronet (EEFT) down 1% after Monness Crespi downgraded shares to Neutral
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