NZ markets wake up as US ousts Venezuelan president

New Zealand markets are returning for their first day of the new year to the new of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s capture by US law enforcement agencies, with the world’s biggest economy set to take control of the Latin American nation and its vast oil reserves.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are sticking with plans to pause supply increases through the first three months of 2026 while they work out whether the incursion will affect global supplies, while Saudi Arabian stocks tumbled in Sunday trading.

US and European equity markets had largely had a positive first day of trading in 2026 on Friday – New Zealand’s NZX was closed – with energy majors such as Chevron helping drive a 0.7% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average before US President Donald Trump ordered the operation.

Meanwhile, dual-listed New Zealand companies were mixed on the ASX in Friday trading, with small gains for the likes of Auckland International Airport and Infratil while Fisher & Paykel Healthcare and Meridian Energy nudged lower.

Back to work

New Zealand’s stock market returns from the New Year holiday as investors prepare for futures markets to open after the US military strikes on Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, when law enforcement agencies captured the Latin American nation’s president Nicolas Madura, whisking him and his wife to New York to stand trial for narco-trafficking.

Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index dropped 1.8% on Sunday, with Saudi Aramco sliding 1.9% in a mixed trading session across Middle Eastern markets. Brent crude oil futures were up 0.1% at US $61.86 a barrel at end of the trading week.

US President Donald Trump said his administration will run Venezuela until a transition can be made, and will open the doors for major oil companies to return to the energy rich nation to pump billions of dollars into the broken infrastructure to revive the industry.

Chevron is the only major oil company still operating in Venezuela, with ConocoPhilips and Exxon-Mobil pulling out in 2007 when then-President Hugo Chavez nationalised their assets.

OPEC and its allies plan to hold supply for the next three months while they assess the impact of the regime change.

Local players

Genesis Energy is the most exposed energy firm among locally listed companies, with its 46% interest in the Kupe oil and gas field in the Taranaki basin. Its dual-listed shares rose 1% on the ASX on Friday. ASX-listed Echelon Resources, the old New Zealand Oil & Gas, was up 1.5% on Friday.

New Zealand’s NZX was closed for the New Year holiday on Friday, unlike most other developed nations’ markets, which were broadly stronger in the first trading day of 2026.

Chevron was among energy companies helping drive gains for the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York on Friday, with the S&P 500 up 0.2% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite marginally weaker in a mixed day for the megacaps.

Local favourite Rocket Lab continued its strong run, climbing 8.9% to US$75.99 on Friday.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.2% on Friday, with dual-listed New Zealand companies putting in a mixed showing across the Tasman as Auckland Airport and Infratil were on the green side of the ledger to start the year, while F&P Healthcare and Meridian Energy dipped.

Synlait Milk was among the stronger performers on Friday in Australia as it gained 4.7% to 56 Australian cents ahead of the first Global Dairy Trade auction of the year on Tuesday night.

Australian futures were pointing to a 0.1% gain when trading opens across the Tasman, albeit that was before the Venezuelan ouster, while the kiwi dollar traded at 57.68 US cents at 7am in Auckland, down from 57.85 cents at 2pm on Wednesday after local markets closed shop for the year.

On the data radar this week are US jobs and manufacturing figures and Australian and Chinese inflation readings.

Reporting by Paul McBeth. Image from claire dea adh on Unsplash.