US Seizes Sanctioned Oil Tanker Off Venezuelan Coast; Traders Flock to Safety on Oracle Woes

On today's podcast: 1) US forces intercepted and seized a sanctioned oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a serious escalation of tensions between the two countries. A senior Trump administration official referred to the ship as “a stateless vessel” that was last docked in Venezuela. Bloomberg News was first to report the seizure. The US action may make it much harder for Venezuela to export its crude, as other shippers are now likely to be more reluctant to load its cargoes. Most of the nation’s oil goes to China, usually through intermediaries, at steep discounts owing to sanctions risk. Brent futures edged higher after the news. 2) A coalition of Ukraine’s allies will discuss a bid to move swiftly on President Trump’s peace proposal on Thursday as Kyiv’s forces carried out their first-ever attack on Russian Caspian Sea oil production. Leaders from more than 30 countries that are part of the so-called coalition of the willing group will hold a virtual meeting, their second this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address. Allies will discuss the state of peace talks and the latest draft plan that Ukrainian officials sent to Washington overnight, people familiar with the planning said. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are expected to brief participants on an exchange they had with Trump on Wednesday. 3) A market party after the Federal Reserve’s policy decision came to an abrupt halt within hours as a plunge in Oracle Corp.’s shares reawakened concerns over tech-stock valuations. Now investors are left to ponder whether they will still get a Christmas rally. The MSCI All Country World Index had been a whisker away from its peak before changing course, while gold snapped what would have been a three-day winning streak. The earlier gains were a reflection of enthusiasm following the Fed’s latest interest rate cut and Chair Jerome Powell’s upbeat assessment of the US economy. The upbeat mood faded after Oracle’s stock plunged on the company’s below-consensus sales and spending increase that rekindled worries over tech shares’ expensive valuations. That caused Nasdaq futures to slump as much as 1.6% and 10-year Treasury yields to drop by three basis points at one point. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.