LIVE MARKETS-Wall Street moderately higher as market looks to jobs data

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WALL STREET MODERATELY HIGHER AS MARKET LOOKS TO JOBS DATA

Wall Street shares are holding modest gains early on Tuesday after posting sharp increases in the previous session ahead of a slew of labor market reports this week led by Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls report. That could determine the pace of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts this year.

Venezuela, however, remains a secondary storyline for the stock market, with investor attention centered on the jobs data. Money market research firm Wrightson ICAP expects another subdued employment report in December. Payroll growth may remain modestly positive, the firm says, and the unemployment rate is likely to hold steady at November's 4-year high of 4.6%.

"We likely would have seen a surge yesterday with or without the Maduro capture, especially since seasonally speaking, we are still in the throes of the Santa Rally -- which did get stuck in the chimney through much of late December -- so yesterday was probably nothing more than a classic catch-up trade," writes David Rosenberg, founder and president of Rosenberg Research, in his latest research note.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, meanwhile, plans to meet executives from oil companies later this week to discuss boosting production in Venezuela after U.S. military forces captured its president Nicolas Maduro over the weekend. Investors are betting that the move could allow U.S. firms access to Venezuelan oil reserves.

Here's an early snapshot of financial markets:

(Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss)

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