--- title: Why Both Stocks and Gold Are Rising After the U.S. Attack on Venezuela description: The stock market rallied after the Venezuela strike, but gold prices rose, indicating just how much uncertainty investors have to manage. authors: - name: Martha C. White role: Writer url: https://money.com/author/martha-c-white/ education: BA, English, Princeton University at_money_since: 2015 articles: 350 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: Julia Glum joined Money in 2018 and specializes in covering financial trends that affect everyday Americans' wallets. She also writes Dollar Scholar, a weekly newsletter that teaches young adults how to navigate the messy world of money. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 453 covers: - Investing - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2026-01-05T20:33:38.000Z' modified: '2026-01-06T19:43:04.000Z' section: Investing tags: - News word_count: 896 canonical: https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Trump Administration Officials Observe U.S. Military Operations In Venezuela From Mar-a-Lago Resort](https://img.money.com/2026/01/trump-gold-stocks-venezuela.jpg) Were you expecting markets to have a ho-hum start to the new year? Better buckle up. On Monday, the first trading day after the U.S. attack on Venezuela and capture of President Nicolás Maduro, stocks rallied — and gold gained. This dynamic indicates just how much uncertainty [investors have to manage](https://money.com/what-to-do-volatile-stock-market/) as they try to tease out the implications for the stock market and broader economy. Usually, markets respond negatively to geopolitical shocks, especially those involving oil-producing countries like Venezuela. But the Dow Jones industrial average hit a new all-time-high early Monday, and the other major indices also rose, boosted by the stocks of energy and defense companies. In this case, even though defense ETFs and the stocks of contractors like Lockheed Martin rose on Monday, traders don’t seem to see Maduro’s capture as the start of a protracted military entanglement with Venezuela, says Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director at U.S. Bank Asset Management Group. “It’s not troops on the ground, it’s not a continuous \[campaign\]. It was a surgical strike, and now we’re moving on,” he says. ***Gold offer: [Sign up with American Hartford Gold today and get a free investor kit, plus receive up to $20,000 in free silver on qualifying purchases](https://money.com/pr/u3ef79664b8e?apxa1=best-online-gold-dealers-2).*** Instead of fretting about Venezuela, analysts are focused on the outlook for U.S. interest rates and consumer spending, both of which provide reasons to be optimistic. “I think markets are really looking through and past the strike,” Haworth says. “Fundamentally, markets remain focused on earnings,” he adds, along with the possibility of lower interest rates and tax cuts putting more money in Americans' pockets (and giving companies more money to expand). The energy sector was the biggest winner as of press time Monday, following a Saturday news conference during which President Donald Trump called on American oil companies to “spend billions of dollars” in Venezuela. ## Will the Venezuela attack impact oil and gas prices? Oil producers like Chevron and Exxon, refiners like Valero and service providers like Halliburton all [rallied](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/05/maduro-overthrow-could-pave-the-way-for-us-oil-companies-to-recover-venezuela-assets.html) on Monday. Shares of Chevron, the only American company currently operating in Venezuela, jumped by nearly 10% at one point. The impact on the price of oil itself, though, was much less dramatic. Benchmark spot oil prices fluctuated over the weekend and inched up slightly on Monday. Although Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, getting it out of the ground would require significant time and money, according to experts. “Sanctions, chronic underinvestment and deteriorated infrastructure have curtailed production sharply,” Janus Henderson Investors analysts wrote in a Monday research [note](https://www.janushenderson.com/social/article/quick-view-venezuela-marks-latest-chapter-in-global-realignment/). ***Extra money: [See how you can get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new active SoFi invest account](https://money.com/pr/x00f9061e638?apxa1=best-online-gold-dealers-2).*** There are reasons why American oil companies might be cautious about making major commitments. U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil remain in place, for starters, and oil giants Exxon and ConocoPhillips lost billions when their equipment and assets were confiscated by the Venezuelan government in 2007. “Not many companies are going to rush to go into an environment where there’s not stability,” one oil executive told [the *New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/business/energy-environment/venezuela-oil-us-chevron.html). This means that people expecting [lower prices](https://money.com/gas-prices-below-3-outlook-2025/) at the pump or relief from climbing utility costs are likely to be disappointed. “The impact on U.S. gasoline prices may ultimately be limited,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said in a Monday blog [post](https://www.gasbuddy.com/go/average-gas-prices-drop-for-6th-straight-week-venezuela-situation-unlikely-to-play-major-role-for-now). ## Volatility continues to put a shine on gold In contrast to the muted response of oil prices, gold surged on Monday. The spot price for an ounce of the precious metal rebounded after falling in the final days of 2025 due to a combination of profit-taking and higher margin requirements for leveraged investors. Monday's rebound erased much of the drop gold sustained after hitting an all-time high of $4,549.71 on Dec. 26. [Gold](https://money.com/gold-price-rally-predictions-2026/) is typically a safe-haven asset investors buy during times of uncertainty, which likely reflects some of its recovered gains, according to Haworth. (The ongoing tariff volatility since Trump took office for the second time is one reason gold jumped by a remarkable 65% in 2025 in spite of robust stock gains.) “We require some potential hedge against future risks should the economy slow, \[and investors\] are also seeking a measure of safety,” he says. ## What investors should do after U.S. strikes in Venezuela While geopolitical shocks like the surprise Venezuela attack can be scary for investors, Haworth says people shouldn’t make any rash moves with their portfolios. “Stay the course, continue to tilt towards global growth,” he says. ***Deal of the week: [Get an AARP subscription for just $15 for the first year](https://money.com/pr/q11022f27ca6?data-trk-company=aarp-review&data-trk-imp=true&data-trk-pcu-type=direct_link&data-trk-pcu-uuid=q11022f27ca6&encoded_id=&apxa1=best-online-gold-dealers-2).*** Events like this weekend’s are a good reminder that although the U.S. might be the world’s largest economy, it doesn’t operate independently of the broader and ever-evolving global economy. Alongside U.S. equities, American investors would do well to balance growth and risk with a combination of international and fixed-income investments. “Look for global diversification,” Haworth recommends, adding that interest rates today are high enough that yields from lower-risk assets can meaningfully contribute to a nest egg even as those assets help to manage portfolio risk from exposure to more volatile global stocks. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Investing", "item": "https://money.com/investing/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Why Both Stocks and Gold Are Rising After the U.S. Attack on Venezuela" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/", "name": "Why Both Stocks and Gold Are Rising After the U.S. Attack on Venezuela", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-01-05T20:33:38.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/venezuela-attack-stock-market-gold/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-01-06T19:43:04.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Why Both Stocks and Gold Are Rising After the U.S. Attack on Venezuela", "articleSection": "Investing", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/01/trump-gold-stocks-venezuela.jpg", "width": 1024, "height": 683, "caption": "trump-gold-stocks-venezuela" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martha C. 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