U.S. stock futures rose in the first full trading week of the year on Monday after closing mixed on Friday. Futures of major benchmark indices were higher.
Over the weekend, the U.S. struck Venezuela and toppled Nicolás Maduro‘s regime. On Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that U.S. oil companies are preparing to invest billions in Venezuela’s oil industry, after the removal of President Maduro.
The objective, as stated by Trump, is to restore Venezuela’s dilapidated oil infrastructure and kick-start revenue generation for the country.
Crude oil prices were swinging early on Monday, as WTI’s February Futures were trading 0.05% lower at $57.29 per barrel following the geopolitical developments.
Meanwhile, the 10-year Treasury bond yielded 4.17%, and the two-year bond was at 3.46%. The CME Group’s FedWatch tool‘s projections show markets pricing an 82.3% likelihood of the Federal Reserve leaving the current interest rates unchanged in January.
| Futures | Change (+/-) |
| Dow Jones | 0.02% |
| S&P 500 | 0.20% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 0.50% |
| Russell 2000 | 0.01% |
The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY) and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ:QQQ), which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, were higher in premarket on Monday. The SPY was up 0.22% at $684.68, while the QQQ advanced 0.51% to $616.26, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Stocks In Focus
Vertiv Holdings
- Vertiv Holdings Co. (NYSE:VRT) shares jumped 1.62% in premarket on Monday after Barclays upgraded it to “overweight” from “equal weight,” as per an investing.com report, and the odds of the Ohio-based AI infrastructure provider joining the S&P 500 index stood at 75% on Polymarket.
- It maintains a stronger price trend over the short, medium, and long terms with a solid quality ranking. Additional performance details, as per Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings, are available here.
Nukkleus
- Nukkleus Inc. (NASDAQ:NUKK) rose 3.79% after closing its $14 million acquisition of Tiltan Software Engineering, an Israeli defense software company whose AI-driven technologies are embedded in defense programs.
- NUKK maintains a weaker price trend over the short, medium, and long terms. Additional …