S&P 500 company earnings are expected to have climbed 13 percent in 2025, with another rise of 15.5 percent in 2026.

BY REUTERS

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Photo: Getty Images

The first full trading week of the new year could shake the U.S. stock market out of its winter holiday slumber as investors parse the rapid developments in Venezuela while monthly jobs data looms.

Stocks slid in the final session of 2025, with the benchmark S&P 500 falling into a monthly loss for December. But the index still climbed more than 16 percent in 2025, its third straight year of double-digit percentage gains, while the Cboe Volatility index was just above its lows for the year.

Trading volumes were thin at the end of 2025, but the new year could get off to an eventful start.

In dramatic weekend events, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was putting Venezuela under temporary American control after the United States captured President Nicolas Maduro.

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Investors said such developments in the oil-rich country raised the concerns around geopolitical risks, and that any oil price volatility would ripple through assets.

Investors also await more drama with a U.S. Supreme Court decision looming on Trump’s tariffs, along with his choice of........

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