By Gregor Stuart Hunter
SINGAPORE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Asian stocks opened higher and oil prices were choppy on Monday as investors looked past U.S. military action over the weekend in Venezuela to prepare for a packed week of economic data releases in the first full trading week of the year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.3%, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were last 0.1% higher. Investors are assessing the repercussions of a dramatic weekend of events, which
saw the U.S. capture Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was putting Venezuela under temporary American control. "The removal of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. is unlikely to have meaningful near-term economic consequences for the global economy," said Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics. "But its political and geopolitical ramifications will reverberate." WTI crude futures fluctuated between gains and losses and were last up 0.1% at $57.36 as oil markets assessed the impact from the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and a vote by OPEC+ on Sunday to keep oil output unchanged.
"A bearish oil price story is highly unlikely. Venezuela is going to need a lot of help, both capital and engineering, to get its production anywhere near its maximum, which was never that impressive to begin with," said Marko Papic, chief strategist at BCA Research in Los Angeles.
"We are therefore not sellers of oil in this situation and, in fact, think that upside risks could develop," Papic added.
Among regional stocks, Japan's Nikkei 225 advanced 2.5% to its highest in two months, while Seoul's Kospi climbed 2% to hit a fresh record high.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was last up 0.1% at 98.55, extending recent gains into a fifth consecutive day. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond was last up 0.2 basis points at 4.187%. Gold tacked on 1% to trade at $4,371.29. Bitcoin was last up 0.2% at $91,452.90, while ether was last flat at $3,141.29.
(Reporting by Gregor Stuart Hunter; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
