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Your Daily Market Brief
February 18, 2026
 
   
  Market Wrap: Stocks, Bonds, Commodities  
 
 
On Tuesday, major U.S. stock indexes closed little changed, with the S&P 500 edging up 7 points (+0.10%) to 6,843, and the Dow Jones up 32 points (+0.07%) to 49,533.

The Nasdaq 100 dipped 31 points (-0.13%) to 24,701.

Apple (AAPL) rebounded 3.17% after losing for two straight sessions. The tech giant said it will unveil new products in a "Special Apple Experience" event scheduled for March 4.

Amazon (AMZN) closed 1.19% higher, ending a nine-session losing streak.

Alphabet (GOOGL) dropped 1.21%, extending its decline to a fifth session.

Microsoft (MSFT) fell 1.11%, and Tesla (TSLA) was down 1.63%.

Nvidia (NVDA) gained 1.18%, and Broadcom (AVGO) climbed 2.27%, while Micron (MU) fell 2.89, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) was down 2.05%.

Financial stocks outperformed the market, with Citigroup (C) rising 2.63%, JPMorgan (JPM) up 1.51%, and Goldman Sachs (GS) up 1.20%.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) soared 12.15% after The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Elliott Investment Management acquired over a 10% stake in the company.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield edged up 1.2 basis points to 4.062%.

European stocks closed higher, with the DAX 40 gaining 0.80%, the CAC 40 up 0.54%, and the FTSE 100 up 0.79%.

Gold fell a further 115 dollars (-2.30%) to 4,879 dollars an ounce.

U.S. WTI crude futures dropped 56 cents to 62.33 dollars a barrel.
 
 
  Market Wrap: Forex  
 
 
The U.S. dollar index was largely flat at 97.11. The New York state manufacturing index declined to 7.1 in February, higher than expected.

EUR/USD ticked up 1 pip to 1.1855. Germany's ZEW economic sentiment index dropped to 58.3 in February, lower than expected.

USD/JPY eased 9 pips to 153.35.

GBP/USD fell 65 pips to 1.3560. The latest U.K. jobless rate climbed to 5.2%, the highest level since January 2021.

AUD/USD rose 15 pips to 0.7084.

USD/CHF added 8 pips to 0.7701.

USD/CAD gained 6 pips to 1.3640. Canada's inflation rate slowed to 2.3% year on year in January, lower than expected.

Bitcoin still lacked upward momentum, slipping 2% to 67,500 dollars.
 
 
  Morning Trading  
 
 
In Asian trading hours, NZD/USD slid 0.7% to 0.6005. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 2.25% as expected, adding that "monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for some time".

Meanwhile, USD/JPY edged up to 153.50. Japan's exports rose 16.8% year-on-year in January, above 12.0% expected.

EUR/USD slipped to 1.1845 and GBP/USD was under pressure at 1.3556.

Gold rebounded to 4,912 dollars.

Bitcoin remained subdued at 67,365 dollars.
 
 
  Expected Today  
 
 
U.K. inflation rate is expected to slow to 3.0% year-on-year in January.

In the U.S., the Federal Reserve will release its latest FOMC meeting minutes. Meanwhile, durable goods orders are estimated to drop 3.4% month-on-month in December, while housing starts and building permits are expected to be down 4.4% and 3.7% respectively. Also, industrial production is estimated to grow 0.5% month-on-month in January.
 
 
 
 
Web TV from Trading Central
 
 
 
EUR/USD Intraday: Bullish Bias Above 1.1830
 
From an intraday point of view, EUR/USD remains bullish above 1.1830.
 
WATCH NOW
 
 
     
 
 

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