Oil and gold advance after Venezuela; FTSE jumps: Markets Wrap

by Levin Stamm and Alex Nicholson

Stocks in Europe climbed as surging crude prices boosted the appeal of energy companies after President Donald Trump announced an oil blockade on Venezuela. Gold and the dollar advanced.

Europe’s Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.4%, with BP Plc and Shell Plc rallying more than 2%. Futures on the S&P 500 rose 0.4%. Brent crude jumped 2.2% to $60.24 a barrel, advancing from the lowest level since 2021.

Trump’s ban on sanctioned oil tankers going into and leaving Venezuela helped send gold above $4,330 an ounce, pushing it close to the record $4,381 set in October. Other precious metals were also gaining, with silver climbing to a record above $66 an ounce and platinum hitting the highest since 2008.

The move in Venezuela is a major escalation and follows the seizure of an oil tanker last week by US forces off the country’s coast. The US is also preparing for a fresh round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector should President Vladimir Putin reject a peace agreement with Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter, potentially adding to the uptick in geopolitical tensions.

Elsewhere, UK stocks rallied the most since April as the slowest inflation print in eight months weakened the pound by 0.7%. That burnished the appeal of the FTSE 100, whose biggest members get their revenue streams from overseas.

In the wake of the latest US jobs numbers, the dollar was up the most in almost a month and Treasuries fell, pushing the 10-year yield two basis points higher to 4.17%.  

The data signaled a cooling jobs market — but not one rapidly weakening — prompting traders to hold off on increasing bets for near-term rate cuts. Attention now turns to Thursday’s inflation numbers for clues on whether the narrative may shift in the final full trading week of the year.  

“Yesterday’s November US jobs data is more of a confirmation of the prior expected rate path rather than a new catalyst,” said Andrea Gabellone, head of global equities at KBC Global Services. “Data is still volatile but overall I don’t see the Fed rushing to cut earlier or more aggressively.” 

Tech Retaliation

Meanwhile, the Trump administration threatened retaliation against the European Union in response to efforts to tax American tech companies. Companies including Accenture Plc, Siemens AG and Spotify Technology SA were singled out as possible targets for new restrictions or fees. Siemens was trading 0.7% weaker.  

In currencies, the Indian rupee jumped 1% after the central bank stepped in to support it. Bitcoin slid 1.7% to trade around $86,252 as the token headed for the fourth annual decline in its history.

Corporate Highlights:

• OpenAI is in initial discussions to raise at least $10 billion from Amazon.com Inc. and use its chips, a potential win for the online retailer’s effort to broaden its AI industry presence and compete with Nvidia Corp.
• Tesla Inc.’s sales in California are poised to be suspended for 30 days if it doesn’t change its marketing practices that allegedly mislead consumers about its driver-assistance technology.
• Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is planning to reject Paramount Skydance Corp.’s hostile takeover bid due to concerns about financing and other terms, people familiar with the matter said.
• Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving unit, is in discussions to raise more than $15 billion at a valuation near $100 billion, in a financing round led by its parent company.
• Luckin Coffee Inc. is considering making a bid for Nestle SA’s Blue Bottle Coffee to boost its brand profile and expand in the premium coffee segment.
• SBI Shinsei Bank Ltd. surged as much as 16% in its trading debut in Tokyo on Wednesday after raising ¥322 billion ($2.1 billion) in Japan’s second-biggest initial public offering of the year.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 rose 0.4% as of 10:49 a.m. London time
• S&P 500 futures rose 0.4%
• Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%
• Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3%
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.6%

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.3%
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.1720
• The Japanese yen fell 0.5% to 155.46 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0397 per dollar
• The British pound fell 0.7% to $1.3330

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 1.1% to $86,741.65
• Ether fell 1% to $2,921.44

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.17%
• Germany’s 10-year yield was little changed at 2.84%
• Britain’s 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.47%

Commodities

• Brent crude rose 2.3% to $60.26 a barrel
• Spot gold rose 0.3% to $4,316 an ounce

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

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