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Futures News, December 18th: Overnight oil prices rose slightly, but geopolitical instability exacerbated the wait-and-see attitude among fuel oil market participants. Downstream businesses made purchases based on immediate needs, and bearish sentiment persisted. The market lacked clear positive guidance, and fuel oil trading is expected to remain stable and stagnant today after a decline.

On December 18th, Venezuelan Defense Minister López Obrador stated on the 17th that US President Trump's remarks about blocking the Caribbean Sea were "delusional." López Obrador said the Caribbean Sea is a space for cooperation, free trade, and freedom of navigation, not a closed sea area serving US interests. He added that the US claim that Venezuela "stole" US oil resources is utter nonsense.

Venezuelan President Maduro: Had a long phone call with UN Secretary-General Guterres.

Foreign investors bought 1.4075 trillion yen in Japanese bonds in the week ending December 12, compared with a net outflow of 442.6 billion yen in the previous week.

Japan's purchases of foreign stocks in the week ending December 12 were -¥79.2 billion, compared to -¥64.5 billion in the previous week.

Japan purchased ¥356.4 billion in foreign bonds in the week ending December 12, compared with a revised ¥456.3 billion in the previous week (up from ¥452.9 billion).

Foreign investors bought ¥528.3 billion worth of Japanese stocks in the week ending December 12, compared with a revised ¥132.8 billion in the previous week (originally reported as ¥96.8 billion).

According to Futures News on December 18, the holdings of the world's largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Trust, were 1,052.54 tons, an increase of 0.85 tons from the previous trading day.

Sources say the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating Instacart, a U.S. retail media and delivery company, for its AI pricing tool.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Republican healthcare bill without extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

1. All three major U.S. stock indexes closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.47% to 47,885.97 points, the S&P 500 fell 1.16% to 6,721.43 points, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.81% to 22,693.32 points. Caterpillar fell more than 4%, and Nvidia fell nearly 4%, leading the decline in the Dow. The Wind U.S. Tech Big Seven Index fell 2.03%, Tesla fell more than 4%, and Google fell more than 3%. Most Chinese concept stocks fell, with 21Vianet and NIO falling more than 3%. AI-related stocks were generally under pressure as investors weighed the latest U.S. economic report. 2. European stock indices closed mixed. The German DAX index fell 0.02% to 24,072.25 points, the French CAC40 index fell 0.25% to 8,086.05 points, and the UK FTSE 100 index rose 0.92% to 9,774.32 points. Both the German and French indices saw slight declines, influenced by pressure on technology stocks and adjustments to the EU's fuel vehicle policy, resulting in a generally cautious market. UK stocks rose as inflation fell to an eight-month low, reinforcing expectations of interest rate cuts. 3. US Treasury yields were mixed. The 2-year Treasury yield rose 0.43 basis points to 3.483%, the 3-year yield remained unchanged at 3.528%, the 5-year yield rose 0.36 basis points to 3.698%, the 10-year yield rose 1.36 basis points to 4.153%, and the 30-year yield rose 1.72 basis points to 4.827%. 4. Trump ordered a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers, with prices reported at $56.74 per barrel; Brent crude oil futures rose 2.85% to $60.6 per barrel. 5. International precious metals futures generally closed higher, with COMEX gold futures rising 0.90% to $4371.40 per ounce and COMEX silver futures rising 4.92% to $66.44 per ounce. Federal Reserve officials issued a series of cautious statements, US economic data was complex, and geopolitical tensions in Europe affected market risk aversion. 6. London base metals rose across the board. LME tin rose 3.05% to $42,275.00/ton, LME copper rose 1.30% to $11,742.50/ton, LME aluminum rose 1.03% to $2,906.00/ton, LME zinc rose 0.99% to $3,071.50/ton, LME lead rose 0.98% to $1,961.00/ton, and LME nickel rose 0.72% to $14,365.00/ton.

U.S. cannabis stocks rose across the board in after-hours trading, with Tilray Brands up over 4%, Canopy Growth up nearly 7%, and Aurora Hemp up over 2%. Reports indicate that Trump plans to sign an executive order on Thursday to reclassify cannabis.

The local governor said the attack in Ukraine damaged a ship in the port of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, resulting in the deaths of some of the crew.

Documents show that Nvidia (NVDA.O) director Harvey Jones sold 250,000 shares of the company’s common stock on the open market on December 15 at an average price of $177.30.

On December 18, SenseTime (00020.HK) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that on December 18 (before the trading session on the Stock Exchange), the company entered into a placing agreement with the placing agent. The placing agent has conditionally and individually agreed to use its best efforts to procure not less than six placees to subscribe for 1,750,000,000 placing shares at a placing price of HK$1.80 per placing share (a discount of 8.63%). The total proceeds from the placing are expected to be HK$3.15 billion.

White House officials say President Trump is expected to speak on Thursday about the reclassification of marijuana.

OpenAI: Developers can now upload apps to ChatGPT.

FBI Deputy Director Bongino: He will resign in January next year.

Micron Technology (MU.O) CFO: Capital expenditures for fiscal year 2026 will be concentrated in the second half of the year.