New York, Feb 17, 2026, 15:26 EST — Regular session
Morgan Stanley (MS) shares rose about 0.3% to $171.60 in afternoon trade on Tuesday, after moving between $170.57 and $174.11. Volume was about 3.9 million shares.
U.S. stocks were modestly higher and the S&P 500 financials index led sector gains, up about 1.2%, even as investors stayed jumpy after last week’s AI-linked selloff that hit software and brokerage names and after Alibaba unveiled its Qwen 3.5 model on Monday. “The market is looking very short-term here,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder, calling the swings a sign of investors chasing themes. Traders were pricing in about a 63% chance of at least a 25-basis-point cut (0.25 percentage point) at the Fed’s June meeting. (Reuters)
Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said the central bank could approve “several more” rate cuts in 2026 if inflation resumes a decline toward its 2% goal. Minutes of the Fed’s Jan. 27-28 meeting — the record of policymakers’ debate — are due Wednesday, and the December PCE report is scheduled for Friday. The Fed has held its policy rate in a 3.5%-3.75% range, and the PCE price index, its preferred inflation gauge, has been around 2.8% since May through November, according to the most recent available data. (Reuters)
Big banks outperformed: Goldman Sachs was up about 1.3%, JPMorgan Chase gained about 1.5% and Citigroup rose roughly 2.8%, while Bank of America added about 0.4%. Morgan Stanley lagged the group despite the broader bid in bank shares.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management said funds managed by its Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing unit sold the final 11 communities in the Spring Arbor Senior Living collection to an S&P 500 company for $296 million. The 11-community portfolio totals 795 assisted-living and memory-care units and had surpassed a 90% occupancy rate in recent years, it said. “This investment highlights MSREI’s ability to identify opportunities during periods of market dislocation,” said Will Millam, head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing U.S. (Morgan Stanley)
In another update, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, which oversees $1.9 trillion in assets as of Dec. 31, 2025, said its AIP Alternative Lending Group closed its first asset-based finance securitization backed by consumer personal loans, with about $220 million of loan purchase capacity. Securitization bundles loans into securities sold to investors; Morgan Stanley said the deal issued investment-grade notes rated by KBRA. “This transaction reflects our continued progression in structuring durable and innovative capital solutions for investors,” said Ken Michlitsch, a managing director in the group. (Morgan Stanley)
The stock fell 4.8% last week, as investor unease about AI disruption seeped into financial shares, including companies tied to wealth management, according to a Zacks note published by Nasdaq. Morgan Stanley runs one of Wall Street’s biggest wealth-management franchises, and trading activity can be sensitive to shifts in market risk appetite. (Nasdaq)
But the support can fade quickly. If inflation prints hot or the Fed minutes read as more cautious, the rate-cut timetable could slip — and that usually changes the mood for banks in a hurry.
Next up is Feb. 20, when the Bureau of Economic Analysis is due to publish its next GDP report and the PCE price index — a pair of releases that can reset expectations for growth, inflation and rates. (Bureau of Economic Analysis)
