Asian shares rise as markets weigh US capture of Venezuela's Prez Maduro

Asian stocks opened higher and oil prices were choppy on Monday as investors looked past US military action ‍over the weekend in Venezuela ​to prepare for a packed week of economic data releases in the first full trading week of the year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.3 per cent, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were last 0.1 per cent higher. Investors are assessing the repercussions of a dramatic weekend of events, which saw the US capture Venezuelan President ​Nicolas Maduro.  President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was putting Venezuela under temporary American control. "The removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the US is unlikely to have meaningful near-term economic consequences for the global economy," said Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics. "But its political and geopolitical ramifications will reverberate." WTI crude futures fluctuated between gains and losses and were last up 0.1 per cent at $57.36 as oil markets assessed the impact from the US intervention in Venezuela and a vote by OPEC+ on Sunday to keep oil output unchanged.

 

"A bearish oil price story is highly unlikely. Venezuela is going to need a lot of help, both capital and engineering, to get its production anywhere near its maximum, which was never that impressive to begin with," ‌said Marko Papic, chief strategist at BCA Research ​in Los Angeles.

"We are therefore not sellers of oil in this situation and, in fact, think that upside risks could develop," Papic added.

Among regional stocks, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 2.5 per cent to its highest in two months, while Seoul's Kospi climbed 2 per cent ‍to hit a fresh record high.

The US dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was last up 0.1 per cent at 98.55, ‍extending ‌recent gains into ​a fifth consecutive day. The yield on the US ‍10-year Treasury bond was last up 0.2 basis points at 4.187 per cent. Gold tacked on 1 per cent to ‍trade ‍at $4,371.29. Bitcoin was last ‌up 0.2 per cent at $91,452.90, while ether was last flat at $3,141.29.