FTSE 100 closes above 10,000 after Trump triggers defence rally

British defence and mining stocks set the FTSE 100 flying high on Monday after the fallout from the United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro heightened investor appetite.

The surging stock prices helped the blue-chip index cement its first close over the 10,000 mark, ending the session at 10,004.57 after a 0.5 per cent gain.

Miner Antofagasta topped the City’s risers with a five per cent gain as the price of gold rose amidst the geopolitical tension.

Endeavour and Fresnillo – the FTSE 100’s best performing blue-chip of 2025 – each rose over five per cent and four per cent.

Gold rose near two per cent to $4,412 an ounce whilst silver was up near four per cent as investors flocked to “safe haven” assets.

UK defence stocks also enjoyed the rally with BAE Systems climbing 4.5 per cent Babcock netting an all-time high of near 1,331 after an over four cent gain.

It comes after Trump refused to rule out military action in Colombia; the President told reporters on Sunday it “sounds good to [him]” as he also doubled down on previous suggests the US “need” Greenland.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, told Morning Wire the slow influx of corporate news for the New Year was “more than compensated” by the fallout in Venezuela.

How is the UK government reacting?

On Saturday, Trump announced the capture of Venezuelan President Maduro, who is set to appear in US Federal Court in New York. Trump has clamped down on Venezuela following accusations of the nation dumping its prisoners into the US and failing to stop the flow of fentanyl into the country.

The Labour government has taken a coy line on the US’s involvement in Venezuela despite pressure from party backbenchers and opposition groups. 

Keir Starmer emphasised the UK was not involved in the strikes on Friday night while saying he would “shed no tears” over the end of Maduro’s time as president.

Starmer and other government ministers including chief secretary to the prime minister Darren Jones refused to say whether the operation to capture Maduro represented a breach of international law. 

Starmer added he was a “lifelong advocate of international law” and would seek to gather more information before making a full comment. Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to address parliament by the end of the day on the matter. 

The Times has reported that should the UN Security Council vote on a resolution criticising the US intervention in Venezuela, the UK will abstain. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson did not contest the claim in a briefing with reporters on Monday.

Labour MPs Emily Thornberry, Jon Trickett, and Richard Burgon are among those who have called for Starmer to stand up to Trump, along with the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. 

The Conservatives also said it would wait for “full facts” on the operation and hope to see Venezuelans “enjoy democratic norms and freedoms”. 

Reform UK’s Nigel Farage said that while the capture broke international law, it could “make China and Russia think twice” about taking on global powers.

US could dictate China’s oil supply

Oil has also remained a central piece to the conflict with Venezuela holding the world’s largest estimated oil reserves, though the country’s output remains at a fraction of capacity due to decades of mismanagement.

Trump has said the US plans to “run” Venezuela and insert its own oil majors to the country to control and ramp up its oil production.

“We’re going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country,” the President said.

The US’ Energy Information Administration estimates Venezuela has near 303bn barrels worth of crude – near 20 per cent of the world’s resource – but exports just 900,000 per day with China acting as the biggest customer.

Bejing has urged the US to “stop toppling” the Venezuelan government with the top diplomat of China accusing the White House as behaving like a “world judge”.

Despite the rising tensions, oil prices have remained subdued in the fallout.

Brent crude dropped near 1.3 per cent despite Trump’s pledge to pump billions into the oil-rich nation to fix infrastructure.

Analysts expect China to be forced to pay higher rates for oil, should the US maintain control of Venezuelan production.

Jordan Rochester, an analyst at Mizuho Bank, said: “By controlling Venezuela, the US doesn’t need to own the oil; it just needs a hand on the tap. 

“This shapes global energy flows and decides whether China gets cheap heavy crude or has to pay market rates elsewhere.”