By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday following U.S. President Donald Trump's deal to import up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude, while major stock indexes ended mostly lower, with U.S. financial and defense shares declining.

The U.S. energy secretary said that the United States needs to control Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to stabilize that country's economy and rebuild its oil sector. U.S. forces ousted Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid on the capital Caracas on Saturday.

On Wall Street, the Dow eased along with the S&P 500, but the Nasdaq finished higher. Stock indexes around the world had hit record highs this week even after the U.S. intervention in Venezuela.

As investors digested a barrage of Trump-related headlines, they were also focused on U.S. data showing job openings fell more than expected in November while hiring eased. Friday brings the all-important U.S. employment report for December. 

"This week is all about the jobs report," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, noting that weaker jobs data could underpin expectations for rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase fell 2.3% after Wolfe Research downgraded the bank to "peer perform" from "outperform." In addition, shares of U.S. defense companies declined after Trump vowed to block defense contractors from paying dividends or buying back shares until they speed up weapons production. Shares of Lockheed Martin ended down 4.8%, while shares of RTX were down 2.5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 466.00 points, or 0.94%, to 48,996.08, the S&P 500 fell 23.89 points, or 0.34%, to 6,920.93 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 37.10 points, or 0.16%, to 23,584.28. The S&P 500 and Dow hit intraday record highs during the session.

Investors also were taking in Trump's comments on Truth Social that his administration is moving to ban Wall Street firms from buying up single-family homes in a bid to reduce home prices.

The U.S. earnings season kicks off next week, with results from some of the largest U.S. banks. They are expected to report higher fourth-quarter profits, helped by a rise in investment banking revenue as dealmaking accelerates.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell 3.67 points, or 0.35%, to 1,031.48.

European stocks snapped a run of record closes as investors paused to digest the latest U.S.-Venezuela developments and assessed economic data. The pan-European STOXX 600 index ended down 0.05%.

The latest euro zone inflation report showed price increases had slowed to a year-on-year rate of 2% in December, in line with the European Central Bank's target.

Investors began the year almost certain that the world economy was in a so-called Goldilocks phase, where recession and inflation risks were both low. 

COPPER FALLS FROM PEAK

Market reaction to Trump's Venezuela moves has so far played out mostly in commodities.

Earlier, China, which imported 389,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil in 2025, on Wednesday denounced Trump as a bully in response to his claim that he had convinced Caracas to divert crude supplies away from Beijing.

U.S. crude fell $1.14 to settle at $55.99 a barrel and Brent fell 74 cents to settle at $59.96.

Copper fell sharply from a record high in the previous session, while nickel tumbled from a 19-month peak as an early-year rally in industrial metals lost momentum.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange dropped as much as 3% to $12,842.50 per metric ton. It hit an all-time high of $13,387.50 on Tuesday.

Industrial metals prices had firmed this week as investors switched out of highly priced gold and silver and bought up tangible commodities, which often rally when geopolitical tensions threaten supply-chain disruptions and shortages.

Gold prices fell as investors booked profits. 

U.S. Treasury yields were lower on the day as traders evaluated economic data and awaited more news on the jobs front.

Another report showed U.S. private payrolls rebounded less than expected in December.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 4.1 basis points to 4.138%, from 4.179% late on Tuesday.

The dollar was up slightly against major currencies, including the yen and euro.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.14% to 98.75.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; additional reporting by Naomi Rovnick in London; Editing by Shri Navaratnam, Kirsten Donovan, Jane Merriman and Diane Craft)