Global financial markets bracing for turmoil after US military actions in Venezuela

The US launched a large-scale military actions in Venezuela in the early hours of January 3. The military action has drawn swift international condemnation. Colombia and five other nations issued a joint statement labelling the US intervention as an "extremely dangerous precedent," warning of severe implications for regional stability and international norms.

Financial markets showed a contained reaction to the US raid on Venezuela. 

As Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, for The Guardian notes, markets are "barely flinching" with gold leading safe-havens higher, while broader risk appetite remains intact. 

Separately, Gary Tan, portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, Singapore, highlighted in Reuters, the credit market impact: "We expect some narrowing of credit spreads, particularly for lower-rated sovereigns, as geopolitical risk premiums stabilize."

Commodity markets showed selective safe-haven demand. 

The benchmark price of Crude Oil (Brent) was $60.75/barrel, even down 0.95 percent from the start of the month. New Energy Metals prices continued to rise. 

As of press time, London spot gold rose 2.13 percent on Monday to $4,422 per ounce. London silver jumped 3.1 percent to $75.51 per ounce. 

In the meantime, global equities were decisively driven by the AI growth narrative. 

Asia-Pacific stocks rallied strongly. As of market close, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.97 percent, South Korea's KOSPI surged 3.43 percent to a record high, and China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.38 percent to 4023.42. 

European Markets opened higher across the board on Monday. Major indices like Germany's DAX and the Euro Stoxx 50 rose between 0.55 to 0.72 percent.

The world now watches closely as markets react to this unprecedented strike, with investors bracing for a period of heightened volatility and recalibration.