Gold prices climbed ​on Monday (January 5, 2026) and other precious metals surged, after the United ‌States captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro over the ​weekend, escalating geopolitical tensions and lifting safe-haven demand.

As of 0508 GMT, spot gold rose 1.8% to $4,406.77 per ounce, a one-week high. U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 1.9% to $4,413.40.

Follow U.S.-Venezuela tensions LIVE updates

“The events in Venezuela have reignited safe-haven demand, with gold and silver among the beneficiaries as investors look to protect against geopolitical risks,” ​said Tim Waterer, KCM Trade’s chief market analyst.

On Saturday, ⁠the U.S. captured Mr. Maduro in an attack that was Washington’s most controversial intervention in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 37 years ago.

Vice-President ​Delcy Rodriguez has taken over ⁠as interim leader and said that Mr. Maduro remains President.

Geopolitical tensions, combined with interest rate cuts, robust central bank purchases and inflows into exchange-traded funds contributed to bullion’s 64% gains last ‌year, its biggest annual gain since 1979.

It hit a ‌record high of $4,549.71 on December 26, 2025.

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Anna Paulson said on Saturday ‍that further rate cuts could be some way off after an active campaign of easing last year.

Also Read | The rise and fall of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro: Timeline

Her comments come as ‍investors still expect at least two Fed rate cuts this year.

Meanwhile, investors are focused on non-farm payroll data, which is due on Friday, for more cues into potential Fed rate cuts, Mr. Waterer added.

Non-yielding assets tend to do well in a low-interest-rate environment and during geopolitical or economic uncertainties.

Spot silver added 3.9% to $75.46 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $83.62 on December 29. The metal ended ⁠its best ever year on record 147% higher.

Silver was propelled to fresh highs by its designation ​as a critical U.S. mineral last year and supply constraints in ⁠the face of rising industrial and investment demand.

Also Read | U.S. pushes oil majors to invest big in Venezuela if they want to recover debts

Spot platinum rose 2.2% to $2,189.88 per ounce after touching to an all-time high of $2,478.50 last Monday. It gained more than 5% in early Asia hours to a one-week high.

Palladium climbed ⁠2.1% to $1,671.95 per ounce.

The U.S. attack on Venezuela will likely have a negligible direct impact on India’s energy security, according to an analysis of the latest data.

The latest data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry shows that India imported $255.3 million worth of oil from Venezuela in the current financial year up to November 2025, which works out to about 0.3% of its total oil import during this period. 

U.S. military strikes on Venezuela LIVE updates

Since 2019, India has been cutting its oil imports and commercial engagements with Venezuela in response to U.S. sanctions and threats of secondary sanctions from that year.  

“Given the low trade volumes, existing sanctions constraints, and the large geographical distance, the current developments in Venezuela are not expected to have any meaningful impact on India’s economy or energy security,” Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative and former Director General of Foreign Trade for the Indian government, said.

Venezuela is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a group of countries that largely dominate the global oil market. However, Venezuela itself currently produces a relatively small amount of crude oil compared to the other oil-producing nations. 

According to OPEC data, Venezuela accounts for about 3.5% of the OPEC’s total oil exports, and about 1% of global oil supplies. 

However, this relatively low supply is due to the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela. Most of Venezuela’s oil supply goes to China. 

Following the U.S.’ actions in Venezuela over the weekend, Mr. Trump announced that the U.S. would basically be taking over Venezuela’s oil supply.   

“We’re going to rebuild the oil infrastructure, which will cost billions of dollars, it will be paid for by the oil companies directly,” Mr. Trump said in his address following the attack. “And we’re going to get the oil flowing the way it should be.”

The U.S. Coast ​Guard is pursuing an oil tanker in international waters near Venezuela, officials told Reuters on Sunday (December 21, 2025), ‌in what would be the second such operation this weekend and the third in less ​than two weeks if successful.

“The United States Coast Guard is in active pursuit of a sanctioned ‘dark fleet’ vessel that is part of Venezuela’s illegal sanctions evasion,” a U.S. official said. “It is flying a false flag and under a judicial seizure order.”

Another official said the tanker was under sanctions, but added that it had not been boarded so far and that interceptions can take different forms — including by sailing or flying close to vessels of concern.

The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not give a specific location for the operation ​or name the vessel being pursued. British maritime risk management group Vanguard, along with a U.S. maritime security ⁠source, identified the vessel as Bella 1, a very large crude oil carrier that was added last year to the sanctions list of the U.S. Treasury Department, which said the vessel has links to Iran.

Bella 1 was empty when it was approaching Venezuela on Sunday (December 21, 2025), according ​to TankerTrackers.com. The vessel had in 2021 ⁠provided transportation for Venezuela’s oil to China, according to internal documents from state-run oil company PDVSA. It had also previously carried Iranian crude, according to the vessel monitoring service.

Trump’s Pressure Campaign

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday (December 21, 2025).

U.S. President Donald Trump last week announced a “blockade” of all oil tankers ‌under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela. Mr. Trump’s pressure campaign on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has included a ramped-up military ‌presence in the region and more than two dozen military strikes on vessels in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea near the South American nation. At least 100 people have ‍been killed in the attacks.

The Skipper, a very large crude carrier and the first Venezuela-related vessel seized by the U.S. on December 10, reached the Galveston Offshore Lightering Area near Houston on Sunday (December 21, 2025). Very large crude carriers cannot transit ‍the Houston ship channel, as the waterway is not deep enough, and typically transfer the oil on board to smaller tankers at GOLA.

The first two oil tankers seized were operating on the black market and providing oil to countries under sanctions, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House’s National Economic Council, said in a television interview on Sunday (December 21, 2025).

“And so I don’t think that people need to be worried here in the U.S. that the prices are going to go up because of these seizures of these ships,” Mr. Hassett said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. “There’s just a couple of them, and they were black market ships.” But analysts said the new seizures may push oil prices slightly higher when ⁠Asian trading resumes on Monday (December 22, 2025).

“We might see prices increasing modestly at the opening, considering market participants could see this as an escalation with more Venezuelan barrels at risk” because the tanker intercepted ​on Saturday (December 21, 2025) was not under U.S. sanctions, UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday (December 17, 2025) that the ⁠country’s oil trade will continue. But the new U.S. focus on oil tankers will raise geopolitical risks and probably hurt Venezuela’s oil revenue, analysts said.

The effects could be felt quickly as Venezuela’s export volumes fall significantly and oil storage tanks fill up faster, forcing the OPEC producer to cut output, said Francisco Monaldi, director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University’s Baker Institute.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday (November 14, 2025) he has “sort of” made up his mind about Venezuela, as his escalating military deployment in Latin America has ignited concerns about a wider regional conflict.

“I sort of made up my mind,” Mr. Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he travelled to his estate in Florida.

“I can’t tell you what it is, but we made a lot of progress with Venezuela in terms of stopping drugs from pouring in,” Mr. Trump added.

In recent weeks, Washington has deployed warships, fighter jets and thousands of soldiers to Latin America and launched strikes on 21 alleged drug-smuggling boats, killing at least 80 people.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in Latin America on Tuesday with the stated goal of helping to counter drug trafficking in the region.

But Caracas fears the U.S. military deployment, which also includes F-35 stealth warplanes sent to Puerto Rico and US Navy ships in the Caribbean, is a regime change plot in disguise.

CBS News on Wednesday (November 12, 2025) cited multiple sources as saying senior military officials had presented Mr. Trump with updated options for potential operations in Venezuela, including strikes on land.

On November 2, Mr. Trump downplayed the prospect of going to war with Venezuela but said the days of Nicolas Maduro — whom he accuses of being a drug lord — were numbered.

Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, has also alleged that the ultimate goal of the US deployment is to seize Venezuela’s oil wealth and destabilize Latin America.

Venezuela has announced its own nationwide military deployment to counter the growing U.S. naval presence off its coast.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said Thursday (August 28, 2025) there was “no way” U.S. troops could invade Venezuela after Washington deployed five warships and 4,000 troops to the Caribbean to pressure the leftist strongman.

The United States said the deployment to the southern Caribbean, near Venezuela’s territorial waters, is an anti-drug trafficking operation.

Venezuela has responded by sending warships and drones to patrol its coastline and launching a drive to recruit thousands of militia members to bolster its defenses.

“There’s no way they can enter Venezuela,” Mr. Maduro said, vowing that his country was well prepared to defend its “peace, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

The United States has, however, made no public threat to invade.

Mr. Maduro, who claimed a disputed third term in July 2024 elections, has been in U.S. President Donald Trump’s sights ever since the Republican’s first term in office.

Since returning to power in January, Mr. Trump’s attacks on Venezuela have focused chiefly on its powerful gangs, some of which operate inside the United States.

Washington accuses Mr. Maduro of heading a cocaine trafficking cartel, Cartel de los Soles, which the Trump administration has designated a terrorist organization.

The United States recently doubled its bounty to $50 million for Mr. Maduro’s capture to face drug charges.

Mr. Maduro, who succeeded socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez in 2013, has accused Mr. Trump of attempting to effect regime change.