Stocks, Yen Rise; Gold, Silver and Oil Jump Amid US-Venezuela Tensions

Stocks and Yen Rise as Gold, Oil Jump Amid US-Venezuela Tensions

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Most major stock indexes were higher at the start of a holiday-shortened week on Monday, with shares of Nvidia rising, while the yen strengthened against the U.S. dollar after Japanese officials warned against "one-sided and sharp" currency moves.

Gold and silver jumped to record highs, while oil prices also rose after the U.S. Coast Guard began pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela a day earlier.

Nvidia was up 1.3%. Reuters reported the company has told Chinese clients it aims to start shipping its second-most powerful artificial intelligence chips to China before the Lunar New Year holiday in mid-February. 

Financials were also higher.

TRADING VOLUMES EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT

With U.S. equity and bond markets closed on Thursday for Christmas, trading volumes could be light through the end of the week.

"The late November downdraft was the intermediate bottom that took many of the technology, AI and data-center names down ... I do believe that was the bottom," said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. 

Now, he said, the market is "entering the Santa Claus period," which is typically a strong time for stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 233.48 points, or 0.48%, to 48,367.72, the S&P 500 gained 41.16 points, or 0.60%, to 6,875.66 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 127.10 points, or 0.55%, to 23,435.00. European stocks ended down 0.1%.

Japan's Nikkei finished up 1.8%, extending Friday's bounce.

Atsushi Mimura, Japan's top currency diplomat, told reporters that recent FX moves were one-sided and sharp, adding that the government will take appropriate action against excessive moves. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara also warned about the yen's continued weakness.

Some investors viewed the comments as a hint of intervention from Tokyo.

The dollar was last down about 0.5% against the yen at 156.96 yen, falling as low as 156.88.

Minutes of the Bank of Japan meeting are due on Wednesday, while the head of the central bank speaks to a Japanese business lobby on Christmas Day.

Benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury yields inched higher with the yield on 10-year Treasury notes last up 1.2 basis points at 4.162%.

Spot gold was up 2.3% at $4,436.29 per ounce after hitting an all-time high of $4,440.21 earlier. Spot silver was up 2.1% at $68.55 after hitting a new high of $69.44.

Brent crude rose $1.60 to settle at $62.07 a barrel. 

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York and Nell Mackenzie in London; additional reporting by Wayne Cole; Editing by Stephen Coates, Toby Chopra, Rod Nickel)