Wall Street’s main indexes surged on Monday, with the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting an all-time high thanks to soaring financial stocks, while energy firms rose after a US military strike that captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro.
US president Donald Trump said, a day after Maduro was captured, that a second strike was possible if remaining members of the administration do not co-operate with his efforts to get the country “fixed.”
Investors bet the move against Venezuela’s leadership would allow US firms access to the world’s largest oil reserves. A US embargo on Venezuelan oil remained in full effect, Trump said.
S&P’s energy index gained 1.3 per cent, with heavyweights Exxon Mobil and Chevron rising 1 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.
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Dublin
Bank of Ireland and AIB both rose by 1.3-1.4 per cent amid a positive day’s trading on European markets. As the bank looks for a buyer, PTSB, however, fell by 1 per cent. PTSB surprised the stock market in late October by hiring an investment bank to find a buyer for the entire bank. Cairn was also up. Shares in the homebuilder rose by 1.2 per cent. Ryanair also rose by 0.9 per cent. Both food companies on the Iseq, Glanbia and Kerry, were the notable losers, dropping 2.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
Europe
Europe’s benchmark Stoxx 600 index hit the 600-point mark for the first time on Monday, as global stocks continued their strong recent run and investors reacted calmly to the US capture of Maduro at the weekend.
The pan-continental index was up 0.7 per cent on the day to hit a record of 600.16 points, led by gains in the technology and mining sectors. It rose almost 17 per cent last year, its biggest annual gain since 2021.
Shares in Rheinmetall advanced 9.3 per cent as Hensoldt traded almost 8.2 per cent higher and Renk notched 8 per cent.
European defence stocks were among the key gainers on Monday. Among the other big movers were Swiss industrial valve maker VAT Group, which was up 12 per cent, leading the overall Stoxx 600 by the end of the session.
London
The UK’s FTSE 100 index closed above 10,000 points for the first time, marking a milestone for the blue-chip share index following a rally at the start of the year.
The index, which tracks the performance of the 100 biggest firms listed on the London Stock Exchange, crossed the threshold after a late afternoon spurt.
It closed 53.43 points higher, or 0.54 per cent, at 10,004.57 on Monday.
A strong trading session for mining and defence stocks helped lift the index higher as investors reacted steadily to political turbulence in Venezuela.
A new year rally for the FTSE 100 led to it passing the milestone level during intraday trading on Friday, but it failed to close above it.
It follows a standout year for London’s top tier, which rose by 21.5 per cent in 2025 – the biggest increase since 2009.
Among individual stocks, Ashmore jumped as much as 12 per cent and hit a one-year high. The emerging markets fund manager holds Venezuelan debt that rallied following Maduro’s capture.
Online auction operator Auction Technology jumped 19.2 per cent after it had rejected a total of 11 buyout proposals from top shareholder FitzWalter Capital as they highly undervalued the British online auction operator and its future prospects.
New York
Defence-related stocks also advanced after Washington’s military action. Lockheed Martin rose 2.5 per cent and General Dynamics climbed 2.8 per cent. The broader aerospace and defence index gained 1.2 per cent to hit an all-time high.
Earlier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 600.51 points, or 1.24 per cent, to 48,982.9, the S&P 500 gained 45.32 points, or 0.66 per cent, to 6,903.79.
Goldman Sachs jumped 4.75 per cent to a record high, while JPMorgan Chase and American Express rose 3 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively. The stocks helped propel the Dow to a record high.
Wall Street’s main indexes rounded off the previous week with losses as investors largely sold off tech stocks. But the sector was largely stable on Monday, up 0.2 per cent, with Nvidia adding 0.6 per cent.
Tesla was a standout, rising 4.2 per cent after seven straight sessions of losses, supporting the consumer discretionary sector’s 2.1 per cent climb.
“With the markets taking geopolitics in stride so far, the first trading week of the new year may likely revolve around whether tech will find its footing after stumbling into the end of the year,” Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, E*TRADE at Morgan Stanley, said in a note.
Additional reporting by Reuters
