Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday, January 5, 2026 in New York, USA.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
of S&P500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average Market areas that were hot at the start of the year have lost momentum, falling back from record levels on Wednesday.
The broad market index last fell 0.3% after hitting a new intraday high. The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 466 points, or 0.9%, after rising more than 150 points, or 0.3%, to a new high in early trading. of Nasdaq Composite It rose by about 0.2%.
Two of the sectors that started strong in 2026, financials and energy, suffered losses during the trading day, with both down more than 1%. Bank stocks that returned a portion of their profits include: JP Morgan, bank of america and wells fargo. meanwhile, exxon mobil, chevron and conocophilips They were major laggards in the energy sector.
Beyond energy laggards, oil prices fell after President Donald Trump said Venezuela’s interim authorities would hand over up to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, raising concerns about rising oil supplies.
“The lack of significant movement in the price of a barrel of oil is a sign of confidence that we are still far from tight from a supply and demand perspective,” said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at Globalt Investments. “There is a significant risk of oversupply.”
Oil prices widened their decline from Tuesday, but stocks rose in the previous trading day as investors appeared to shake off concerns over the weekend’s U.S. attack on Venezuela.
Buchanan also said that “what happened in South America does not change the growth outlook for the United States from a stock market perspective.”
“In our opinion, I think there’s a certain degree of complacency, recognizing that the overall geopolitical risks are increasing, but we don’t feel that what’s happening in Venezuela has moved the needle up or down in that regard,” he continued. “I feel like we’re still in a tinderbox.”
Trump contributed to market losses in other areas of the broader market Wednesday. The president said he would “not allow” defense companies to pay dividends or buy back stock until the companies address grievances with the industry. Defense-related stocks fell on the day in response to these comments.
Additionally, President Trump said the United States would ban large institutional investors from purchasing additional single-family homes, a move that weighed on private equity stocks. black stone and Apollo Global Management.
On the other hand, oil refinery stock prices valero energy and marathon oil They were among the day’s winners, rising more than 3% and 1%, respectively, after officials told CNBC that oil sales from Venezuela would continue indefinitely and sanctions would be eased.
