US stocks follow European shares higher; geopolitical jitters boost oil, gold
By Stephen Culp
Wed February 18, 2026 9:00 PM
The pattern continues. After opening with all three indexes zooming way up, the Dow up over 350 points, then at 1:30 everything went crashing down to lose all gains by 3:30 but did recoup some of them in that final half hour. The trigger was the usual mix of competing interests of rate cuts vs inflation control. Dampening sentiment was also the disappointing Ukraine peace talks and Iran restricting access to the Strait of Hormuz creating potential supply problems. Christine Lagarde’s leaving her post at the ECB was an additional cause for concern. Fed minutes showed a strong consensus to hold rates steady but a split over the timing of the next cut. Per the CBOE, volume was 17.1 billion, still below the 20 billion average.
DJ: 49,533.19 +32.26 NAS: 22,578.38
+31.71 S&P: 6,843.22
+7.05 2/17
DJ: 49,662.66 +129.47 NAS: 22,753.64
+175.25 S&P: 6,881.32
+38.10 2/18
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