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RETAIL TRADERS KICK-OFF THE YEAR WITH A BANG, ENERGY COMPANIES IN VOGUE

Retail investors were heavy buyers of energy stocks in the first few trading sessions of the New Year, with Venezuela-linked stocks especially recording sharp inflows following the U.S. arrest of President Nicolas Maduro.

On January 5 alone, J.P.Morgan data showed that retail investors bought $22 million worth of Halliburton HAL.N and $62 million worth of Chevron CVX.N shares.

"Retail investors favored some of the companies that can immediately profit from the potential return of Venezuelan heavy crude to the US or those needed to rebuild the country's decaying oil infrastructure," J.P.Morgan analysts said in a note.

Chevron, which is the only major U.S. oil company currently operating in Venezuela's oil fields, saw its shares jump 5.1% on Monday.

Oil refiners including Marathon Petroleum MPC.N, PBF Energy PBF.N and Valero Energy VLO.N also saw high retail inflows as their shares rose on optimism about potential access to Venezuela's vast oil reserves after President Donald Trump said the United States would take control of the South American nation.

Mom-and-pop traders have kicked off the year in force, with retail inflows in U.S. equities recording the second-highest weekly buying levels in nearly eight months in the period from December 31 to January 7, according to J.P.Morgan data.

2025 was a stand-out year for retail traders, with analysts noting that individual investors became a major force behind the rally in U.S. stocks that is likely to extend into the new year.

(Shashwat Chauhan)

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