Futures tied to the main U.S. equity indices were struggling to find clear direction on Wednesday, as investors balanced geopolitical developments with anticipation of a heavy schedule of economic releases. President Donald Trump said the United States and Venezuela have struck an agreement allowing Caracas to export as much as $2 billion of domestically produced crude to the U.S., only days after American forces carried out a high-profile operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s leader. Elsewhere, Constellation Brands (NYSE:STZ) is due to publish its latest quarterly figures, with investors watching closely as the brewer faces softer demand conditions.
Futures lack clear momentum
U.S. stock futures traded on either side of flat early in the session, with market participants weighing fading geopolitical shock against the prospect of key macro data later in the week.
At 02:47 ET, Dow futures were up 46 points, or 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures were down 6 points, or 0.1%. Nasdaq 100 futures underperformed slightly, falling 50 points, or 0.2%.
Wall Street closed higher in the previous session, supported by a rally in semiconductor stocks linked to artificial intelligence enthusiasm. Shares in memory and storage technology companies such as Seagate Technology (NASDAQ:STX), SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) and Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) advanced following comments from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a closely watched technology conference. Huang said the company’s next-generation chips will include an additional storage layer designed to allow chatbots to respond more quickly to longer queries.
Elsewhere, Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) jumped nearly 11% after analysts at BofA Global Research raised their price target on the stock.
Energy shares moved in the opposite direction, retreating after gains earlier in the week that followed the U.S. operation against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Chevron (NYSE:CVX) fell 4.5%, while Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) declined 3.4%.
Venezuela to export crude to the U.S.
Trump said on Tuesday that Washington and Caracas had agreed on a deal under which Venezuela will export up to $2 billion of crude oil to the United States.
The president has previously insisted that Venezuela and interim president Delcy Rodríguez must effectively grant the U.S. and American oil companies full “access” to the country’s vast oil sector. Trump has warned that failure to comply could expose Venezuela to further U.S. military action.
In a post on social media, Trump said Venezuela would be “turning over” between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “sanctioned oil” to the U.S. Millions of barrels have been blocked from leaving the country since Washington imposed a blockade in December.
According to Reuters, the agreement could initially force the redirection of crude cargoes that were previously destined for China, which has been one of Venezuela’s largest oil customers over the past decade.
Oil prices moved lower, with Brent crude futures down 0.9% at $60.18 a barrel by 03:16 ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate slipped 1.2% to $56.46.
Data focus sharpens
Analysts at ING said in a note that the “shock” from the U.S. strike on Venezuela has “largely faded”, with oil prices hovering near pre-incident levels and equities continuing to advance.
“Unless the U.S. escalates threats on Greenland or intervenes again in Venezuela, markets should refocus on data in the second half of the week,” the analysts, including Frantisek Taborsky and Francesco Pesole, wrote.
The White House has said Trump is considering options to acquire Greenland, including the potential use of military force, arguing that the territory is strategically important to U.S. national security. European leaders have strongly opposed the idea.
Despite lingering geopolitical uncertainty, market attention is expected to shift toward a series of major U.S. economic indicators. Economists forecast that data from payrolls processor ADP will show private-sector employment increased by around 49,000 jobs in December, following a decline of 32,000 in November. Separate figures are also expected to show job openings edging down slightly to 7.61 million, a key gauge of labour demand.
Labour market conditions have played a central role in recent policy decisions by the Federal Reserve, which cut interest rates several times in 2025, prioritising support for a weakening jobs backdrop over concerns about persistent inflation.
ISM services data ahead
Investors are also awaiting fresh readings on activity in the U.S. services sector. The non-manufacturing PMI from the Institute for Supply Management is expected to ease slightly to 52.2 in December from 52.6 previously.
In November, services activity was broadly stable, with subdued hiring and rising input costs. Given that services account for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic output, the ISM data could offer important insight into the health of the world’s largest economy toward the end of the fourth quarter.
Constellation Brands in focus
On the corporate calendar, attention is turning to results from Constellation Brands. The group is expected to report adjusted earnings per share of $2.64 for its fiscal third quarter on net sales of about $2.16 billion, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.
Beer shipment volumes are forecast to fall by 2.91%, while depletion volumes — a measure of sales to end consumers — are expected to drop 3.96%. Beer accounts for the majority of Constellation’s revenue base.
Constellation and peers such as Molson Coors (NYSE:TAP) and Brown-Forman (NYSE:BF.A) have been contending with weaker alcohol demand and higher tariffs on aluminium cans, which have squeezed margins. In addition, immigration concerns and broader economic uncertainty have weighed on spending among Latino consumers in the U.S., a key demographic for brands such as Corona and Modelo.
Constellation Brands stock price