Asian defense stocks snapped a two-day winning streak amid mixed trading in the region, as investors continued to assess geopolitical risks after the U.S. attack on Venezuela and renewed rhetoric over Greenland. In Japan, shares of Kawasaki Heavy Industries slid 1.1%. South Korea’s Korea Aerospace fell 1.62%, while Poongsan declined 4.98%. Hanwha Aerospace retreated 1.76%. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday that President Donald Trump and his team were considering “a range of options” in order to acquire Greenland — including “utilizing the U.S. Military.” Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 slid 0.45%, while the Topix lost 0.63%. South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.89%, while the small-cap Kosdaq edged 0.12% lower.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average reached new heights on Tuesday as investors moved past the recent U.S. attack on Venezuela. The broad market index rose 0.62%, notching a record close of 6,944.82. It also posted a new all-time high during the session. The blue-chip Dow advanced 484.90 points, or 0.99%, likewise reaching an intraday all-time high and closing at a record of 49,462.08. The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.65% and ended at 23,547.17. “Magnificent Seven” member Amazon lifted the three major averages, rising more than 3%. Other stocks related to artificial intelligence also supported the broader market, including Micron Technology and Palantir Technologies.
Gold fell to around $4,480 per ounce on Wednesday, pausing its two-day gains as investors looked past geopolitical risks and focused on upcoming US economic data. Key releases include the December jobs report due Friday, which could provide further clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy outlook. FOMC member Neel Kashkari recently noted that rising unemployment could further increase the likelihood of reductions. Markets are currently pricing in two cuts this year. Meanwhile, geopolitical risks remained a key backdrop supporting the metal. After US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, President Trump said Washington could oversee Venezuela’s government and threaten further military action if the interim leadership does not cooperate.
WTI crude oil futures fell more than 1% toward $56 per barrel, extending losses from the previous session, after President Donald Trump said Venezuela would turn over between 30 and 50 million barrels of crude to the US. While the amount remains relatively small, markets fear that if Venezuelan oil flows into the US market sustainably, it could add supply to an already oversupplied market. Traders also continued to assess the impact on future oil exports and the energy sector, as firms including Trafigura prepare talks with US officials on resuming Venezuelan crude purchases. Meanwhile, progress toward a US-Ukraine security agreement has raised the prospect of fewer curbs on Russian crude exports.
President Donald Trump said Tuesday evening that the interim authorities in Venezuela will be turning over between 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States on the heels of the U.S.’s dramatic ouster of the South American country’s authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro. Trump, in a social media post, said the oil will be sold at its market price, “and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” “I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately,” Trump wrote. “It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.” Trump said that the oil being turned over the U.S. was “high quality” and “sanctioned.”
State-owned refiners in India are still buying Russian oil, even as New Delhi seeks relief from U.S. tariffs imposed for those purchases, according to energy analysts. The U.S. imposed a “secondary” 25% tariff on Indian goods in August, citing New Delhi’s continued imports of Russian crude. Washington also sanctioned Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft in late November. On Sunday, U.S. Senator Lindsay Graham claimed that India’s U.S. ambassador, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, had asked him to urge President Donald Trump to lift these tariffs, arguing that New Delhi has reduced its purchase of Russian oil. While India’s overall demand for Russian crude fell in December, analysts said the decline was largely driven by reduced buying from Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Industries, which had been a major importer before the U.S. sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft took effect in late November.
President Donald Trump and his team are considering “a range of options” in order to acquire Greenland — including “utilizing the U.S. Military,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CNBC on Tuesday. The statement further escalates the Trump administration’s already aggressive rhetoric about Greenland, which the president has long sought to make a part of the United States. Trump said Sunday that the U.S. needs the Arctic island for national security purposes, pointing to Russian and Chinese activities in the region. Greenland is a territory of Denmark, which, like the U.S., is a member of the NATO international military alliance. The leaders of Denmark and other European NATO states on Tuesday morning issued a joint statement pushing back on Trump’s increasingly vocal desire to obtain Greenland.
China has banned exports of dual-use items to Japan that can be used for military purposes, according to a commerce ministry statement on Tuesday, Beijing’s latest move in reaction to an early November remark by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan. Dual-use items are goods, software or technologies that have both civilian and military applications, including certain rare earth elements that are essential for making drones and chips. Exports of such items to military users or for any purposes that contribute to Japan’s military strength are banned, effective immediately, the statement said, adding that organisations or individuals from any country or region that violated the ban would be held legally liable.
Chinese officials are reviewing Meta’s $2 billion acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus for possible technology control violations, the Financial Times reported Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Meta and Manus did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Chinese commerce ministry officials began assessing whether the relocation of Manus’ staff and technology to Singapore and the consequent sale to Meta required an export license under Chinese law, the report said. While the review is in its preliminary stages and may not lead to a formal investigation, the need for a license could provide Beijing with an avenue to influence the transaction, including, in an extreme case, trying to force the parties to abandon the deal, the report added.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Tuesday said that the company is seeing “very high” customer demand in China for its H200 AI chips, which the U.S. government recently signaled that it would approve for export. Huang added that Nvidia has started producing the chips again and is working out the final details about export licenses with the U.S. government. Nvidia’s chips are critical for companies developing artificial intelligence models. ″We’ve fired up our supply chain, and H200s are flowing through the line,” Huang said at a press conference at the CES conference in Las Vegas. Investors see the Chinese market as a massive opportunity for Nvidia as the country’s tech companies develop their own AI models. Huang has previously said that the market could be worth $50 billion per year, and none of those sales are currently included in Nvidia’s forecasts.
Marvell Technology said on Tuesday it will buy networking equipment provider XConn Technologies in a deal worth about $540 million, as the chipmaker doubles down on data center hardware amid a race to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure.= XConn’s acquisition will help the custom AI chipmaker expand its networking portfolio - an essential fixture in AI data centers that helps connect different types of hardware across servers and is instrumental in determining the speed at which data can be processed. Marvell’s shares rose more than 2% in early trading. Shares of the chipmaker fell more than 23% last year amid stiff competition from larger rivals Broadcom and the world’s most valuable firm Nvidia, whose top-of-the-line networking equipment often accompanies its leading AI chips. Through the cash-and-stock acquisition, Marvell will also add XConn engineers with an expertise in certain networking devices to its team, the company said.
Ford on Tuesday reported higher auto sales in the U.S. in 2025, as strong consumer appetite for its hybrid models and affordable pickup truck helped it offset slowing electric vehicle sales. The Detroit automaker’s annual sales rose 6% in 2025 to 2,204,124 units, from 2,078,832 a year ago. The announcement comes a day after automakers such as Toyota, Hyundai and General Motors also reported higher annual sales despite a turbulent year for the industry, marked by tariffs and the removal of a $7,500 electric-vehicle tax credit. Ford said its buyers leaned on affordable base models of vehicles to deal with the industry’s high prices. In Ford’s best year ever for hybrid vehicles, sales rose nearly 22% to 228,072 units, from 187,426 units a year ago.