MARKET SNAPSHOT

All three major U.S. stock indexes rose, with the S&P 500 leading the way. Gold and silver prices closed at new highs, bolstered by rising U.S.-Venezuela tensions, which also lifted oil futures. Treasury yields rose amid optimism about the outlook for economic growth. The dollar weakened against the U.K. pound, the yen and other currencies.

MARKET WRAPS

EQUITIES

U.S. stock indexes rose, fueling hopes for a yearend finish that could yield new records.

Technology shares showed strength, continuing to rebound after a volatile period.

The S&P 500 led the way, rising 0.6%, putting it closer to its Dec. 11 record high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq composite both added 0.5%.

Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery shares rallied after Paramount stepped up its pursuit of the CNN owner. Larry Ellison personally guaranteed more than $40 billion of financing for the deal. Rival suitor Netflix has lined up $25 billion of bank lending for its bid.

Wind-related stocks took a hit after the Trump administration halted the construction of all U.S. offshore wind projects.

Earlier Monday, markets in Asia traded higher.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7%, the Shenzhen Composite Index increased 1.1%, and the ChiNext Price Index climbed 2.2%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.4%.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average increased 1.8%.

Stocks in Australia rose, as the S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index gained 0.9%.

New Zealand's S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 1.3%.

COMMODITIES

Oil futures settled higher as the U.S. stepped up actions to enforce a blockade of tankers entering or leaving Venezuela, and Ukraine continued strikes on Russia's oil infrastructure.

The bounce reflects short-covering ahead of the holidays, CIBC Private Wealth US senior energy trader Rebecca Babin said.

"I don't think anyone's opinion about what's happening in crude is changing based on these geopolitical headlines...that we're going to be oversupplied in the first quarter and that we're oversupplied right now."

The U.S. crackdown on Venezuelan crude may cause a supply disruption, but in a market that's so well supplied it would just make the market less loose, she said. "I don't see anyone jumping in the market to get long based on the headlines."

WTI settled up 2.6% at $58.01 a barrel and Brent rose 2.6% to $62.07.

Gold and silver futures both set new highs, with U.S. seizures of Venezuelan oil tankers injecting new uncertainty into a geopolitical picture already chock-full of other pressure points like Russia-Ukraine.

But while markets stay on edge as the U.S. pressures Venezuela, it may not support record-high prices as the holiday-shortened week progresses.

"I think it is a bit much to expect Venezuela safe haven flows to carry gold to the next level," said Robert Yawger of Mizuho Securities USA.

Front-month gold rose 1.9% to $4,444.60 a troy ounce, and silver climbed 1.6% to $67.906 a troy ounce.

TODAY'S TOP HEADLINES

Trump Administration Halts All Offshore Wind Projects

The Trump administration Monday halted the construction of all U.S. offshore wind projects, a sweeping move aimed at hobbling one of the president's least favorite industries.

The Interior Department said it has paused the federal leases for five projects in the works from Massachusetts to Virginia "due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports." It is the most significant action the administration has taken thus far against the burgeoning U.S. business, which already has faced financial setbacks in recent years because of soaring costs.

"Today's action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our East Coast population centers," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said.

Larry Ellison Provides Personal Guarantee for Paramount's Bid for Warner

Paramount amended its offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, with billionaire Larry Ellison agreeing to personally guarantee $40.4 billion of equity financing for the deal and publish records related to the family trust that backstops it.

Paramount previously made a hostile all-cash tender offer of $77.9 billion, or $30 a share, for all of Warner, including cable channels such as CNN, TNT and Food Network. The revised offer is at the same price per share.

Warner earlier recommended shareholders reject Paramount's bid, saying it believed Netflix's proposal for its studios and HBO Max streaming service was still superior. Netflix's deal for the studio and streaming assets was $72 billion in cash and stock, or $27.75 per share.

Netflix Prepares $25 Billion in Bank Financing for Warner Deal

Netflix is laying the foundation for its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's studios and HBO Max streaming service, securing up to $25 billion in bank financing to fund it.

The Los Gatos, Calif., streaming company entered into a $5 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility and two senior unsecured delayed-draw term-loan facilities totaling $20 billion, according to a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Wells Fargo, BNP Paribas and HSBC are among the banks involved in the financing.

Alphabet to Buy Intersect for $4.75 Billion as AI-Investment Plans Grow

Alphabet agreed to buy Intersect for $4.75 billion, a deal the Google parent said would help address the near insatiable demand for energy to power the expansion of artificial intelligence.

The company said Monday it would pay in all cash, plus debt, for Intersect's data-center projects that are in development, plus multiple gigawatts of energy and the Intersect team as part of the deal.

Alphabet said it is aiming to increase its data-center and generation capacity with the acquisition, which is set to close in the first half of 2026. Tech companies such as Alphabet have shared plans to spend hundreds of billion dollars to keep up in the race to develop AI, which requires a significant number of data centers and amounts of computing capacity.

Nelson Peltz's Trian and General Catalyst to Take Janus Henderson Private

Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund Management and venture firm General Catalyst have agreed to buy investment firm Janus Henderson for $7.4 billion.

London-based Janus Henderson said Monday it signed a definitive agreement to sell itself to Trian, General Catalyst and their affiliated funds at $49 a share in cash, an 18% premium to the price on Oct. 24 before the pair publicly unveiled an initial approach.

It is a deal years in the making. In 2020 Trian built a large stake in Janus Henderson and announced plans to build a large asset manager. Since then its stake has grown to 20.6% of Janus Henderson's ordinary shares and Trian currently has two representatives on the company's board of directors.