New High for Dow Jones, but Wednesday Stocks Are Mostly Unchanged
Energy stocks are still elevated after a drop off this week and the stock market is not as volatile as expected after Maduro's capture.
Quick overview
- The Dow Jones reached a new high with a modest increase of 24 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 experienced slight declines.
- Despite geopolitical tensions in Venezuela, U.S. stock markets remained stable and did not exhibit typical volatility.
- Energy stocks, particularly Exxon Mobil and SLB Ltd., have shown strong performance, with SLB Ltd. gaining 13% recently.
- The tech sector, while experiencing a downturn, still holds long-term potential, especially in AI stocks, according to investment analyst Jim Cramer.
On Wednesday morning in early trading, the Dow Jones achieved a new high but only increased by 24 points. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 both decreased slightly, by 0.3% and 0.1%, respectively.
All three major U.S. stock indices climbed early in the week but then stalled on Wednesday. Each of them gained 0.6% or more on Tuesday and then held onto most of their gains as trading began the following day, hardly bothered by concerns that U.S. action in Venezuela will lead to further conflict.
Typically, when there is strong geopolitical conflict, like what we are seeing in the Western Hemisphere, stock markets shift downward and become volatile, but that has not happened this week so far. Over the weekend, the Trump administration captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and placed them in confinement in New York. Leaders from Colombia and the new interim president of Venezuela, as well as Chinese officials, have spoken out about the action and decried the United States.
Bullish Markets Remain Elevated Despite Political Turmoil
The Nasdaq is close to its record high from back in October and is buoyed by strong technology stocks that have made a comeback since Christmas. These are the same stocks that struggled in November and December but rallied near the end of the year as investor fears over the AI market started to fade.
Nvidia (NVDA) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) both surged in late 2025 but have since fallen off. AMD has dropped 4.9% since the beginning of the year as the short tech rally comes to an end. The strong performance we saw from these stocks has significantly diminished as the new year started, but they are still elevated overall.
AMD is well above its 6-month average, and Nvidia is as well, with both stocks trading close to record highs despite a few days of decline. The tech rally has finished, which is why the Nasdaq Composite is not at its record high any longer, but AI stocks have incredible long-term potential this year. Investment analyst Jim Cramer said Sunday that AI stocks will dominate in 2026, and this was after several of the key tech stocks had started to shift downward.
Energy stocks continue to perform well, with Exxon Mobil (XOM) holding onto some of its most recent impressive gains. Chevron (CVX) is performing similarly, with sharp gains after Maduro’s capture and then a small drop off, but some gains are still retained. The best performing energy stock may be SLB Ltd. (SLB), however, which jumped sharply early in the week and has held onto all of its gains, adding 13% to its stock value in the last few days.
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