Markets News, Feb. 20, 2026: Stocks Rise After Supreme Court Strikes Down Tariffs; Nasdaq Snaps 5-Week Losing Streak

The major stock indexes rose on Friday to close out a winning week after the Supreme Court struck down the sweeping tariffs implemented by President Trump last year in a major setback for the president’s signature economic policy.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.9% Friday to end the week 1.5% higher and snap a 5-week losing streak. The S&P 500 advanced 0.7%, closing 1.1% higher on the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5% to eke out a 0.3% gain for the week. Stocks declined yesterday as oil prices climbed to a six-month high amid a major U.S. military build-up in the Middle East aimed at forcing a nuclear deal with Iran.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled the tariffs President Trump imposed last year on most of America’s trading partners are illegal. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices determined the president exceeded his authority when he exercised emergency powers to impose the import taxes.

The judgement came after a series of disappointing economic reports. The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, a faster rate of inflation than expected. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was in line with expectations, rising to 3% from 2.8% in November. (PCE reports are being released a month later than usual because of last year’s government shutdown.)

Alongside hotter-than-expected inflation data, Friday also brought sluggish gross domestic product data. The U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter amid the longest government shutdown in history. Growth was a full percentage point slower than economists expected and down sharply from 4.4% in the third quarter.

Other reports Friday showed new home sales in the final months of 2025 exceeded expectations, while consumer sentiment ticked higher this month and manufacturing and services business activity declined.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, rose to 4.09% from 4.08% on Thursday.

Shares of Applovin (APP) rose nearly 2% following reports the digital ad tech company is developing its own social media platform. Shares of Grail (GRAL) fell 50% after the company reported disappointing trial results of one of its cancer treatments. Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) slumped 14% after the cloud computing company’s first-quarter guidance fell short of estimates.

Big tech stocks were mostly higher on Friday. Alphabet (GOOG) stock rose nearly 4%, followed by Amazon (AMZN), up about 2.5%. Nvidia (NVDA), Apple (AAPL), and Meta (META) each climbed more than 1%, while Microsoft (MSFT) ticked lower and Tesla (TSLA) finished flat.

West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were little changed at $66.50 a barrel. Gold futures climbed 2.5% to $5,125 an ounce as President Trump weighed military strikes against Iran. Silver surged 9% to $84.50 an ounce.

Bitcoin in the late afternoon was trading around $67,800, slightly off its intraday high above $68,000 this morning. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.2% to 97.75.