*

US crude and Brent oil prices fall further

*

Euro zone inflation eases to 2% target

*

Copper eases from record

*

Wall Street stocks end mixed

(Updates with closing US market levels, adds defense shares

down)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Wednesday

following U.S. President Donald Trump's deal to import up to $2

billion worth of Venezuelan crude, while major stock indexes

ended mostly lower, with U.S. financial and defense shares

declining.

The U.S. energy secretary said that the United States

needs to control

Venezuela's oil sales and revenue indefinitely to stabilize

that country's economy and rebuild ‌its oil sector. U.S. forces

ousted Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, in a raid on the

capital Caracas on Saturday.

On Wall Street, the Dow eased along with the S&P 500,

but the Nasdaq finished higher. Stock indexes around ​the world

had hit record highs this week even after the U.S. intervention

in Venezuela.

As investors digested a barrage of Trump-related headlines,

they were also focused on ‍U.S. data showing job openings fell

more than expected in November while hiring eased. Friday brings

the all-important U.S. employment ⁠report for December.

"This week is all ⁠about the jobs report," said Jake

Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management

in Tulsa, Oklahoma, noting that weaker jobs data could underpin

expectations for rate cuts this year by the Federal Reserve.

Shares of JPMorgan ( JPM ) ‌Chase fell 2.3% after Wolfe

Research downgraded the bank to "peer perform" from

"outperform." In addition, ​shares of U.S. defense companies

declined after Trump vowed to block defense contractors from

paying dividends or buying back shares until they speed up

weapons production. Shares of Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) ended down

4.8%, while shares of RTX were down 2.5%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell ⁠466.00

points, or 0.94%, to 48,996.08, the S&P 500 fell 23.89

points, or 0.34%, ‍to 6,920.93 and the ​Nasdaq Composite

rose 37.10 points, or 0.16%, to 23,584.28. The S&P 500 and Dow

hit intraday record highs during the session.

Investors also were taking in Trump's

comments

on Truth Social that his administration is moving to ban

Wall Street firms from buying up single-family homes in a bid to

reduce ‍home prices.

The U.S. earnings season kicks off next week, with

results from some of the largest U.S. banks. They are expected

to report higher fourth-quarter profits, helped by a rise in

investment banking revenue as dealmaking accelerates.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe fell

3.67 points, or 0.35%, to 1,031.48.

European stocks snapped a run of record closes as investors

paused to digest the latest U.S.-Venezuela developments and

assessed economic data. The pan-European STOXX 600

index ended down 0.05%.

The latest euro zone inflation report showed price increases

had slowed to a year-on-year rate of 2% in December, in line

with the European Central Bank's target.

Investors began the year almost certain that ​the world

economy was ‍in a so-called Goldilocks phase, where recession and

inflation risks were both low.

COPPER FALLS FROM PEAK

Market reaction to Trump's Venezuela moves has so far played

out mostly in commodities.

Earlier, China, which imported 389,000 barrels per day of

Venezuelan oil in 2025, on Wednesday denounced Trump as a ​bully

in response to his claim that he had convinced Caracas to divert

crude supplies away from Beijing.

U.S. crude fell $1.14 to settle at $55.99 a barrel

and Brent fell 74 cents to settle at $59.96.

Copper fell sharply from a record high in the previous

session, while nickel tumbled from a 19-month peak as an

early-year rally in industrial metals lost momentum.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal

Exchange dropped as much as 3% to $12,842.50 per metric ton. It

hit an all-time high of $13,387.50 on Tuesday.

Industrial metals prices had firmed this week as investors

switched out of highly priced gold and silver and bought up

tangible commodities, which often rally when geopolitical

tensions threaten supply-chain disruptions and shortages.

Gold prices fell as investors booked profits.

U.S. Treasury yields were ​lower on the day as traders

evaluated economic data and awaited more news on the jobs front.

Another report showed U.S. private payrolls rebounded less

than expected in December.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell

4.1 basis points to 4.138%, from 4.179% late on Tuesday.

The dollar was up slightly against major currencies,

including the yen and euro.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback

against a basket of currencies, ‍rose 0.14% to 98.75.