NEW YORK, Feb 19, 2026, 14:02 EST — Regular session
- The S&P 500 slipped roughly 0.4% in the afternoon session, with losses in financials and chip stocks weighing on the benchmark.
- Jobless claims slipped to 206,000, and the Philly Fed’s factory index held in expansion territory. Still, employment lost some steam.
- Focus shifts to Friday, with traders eyeing the PCE inflation data as the next clue on when the Federal Reserve might move.
Thursday saw the main indexes down on Wall Street, with traders juggling a packed U.S. economic schedule and renewed jitters in private credit. By early afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 0.65%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.42%, and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.45%.
After Wednesday’s surge fueled by tech, Nvidia jumped on news of a multi-year agreement to supply Meta Platforms with millions of its existing and upcoming AI chips. That bounce primed investors to pounce on any sign the economy’s too resilient for rate cuts—or that strains are showing up in credit markets.
Financial stocks bore the hit after Blue Owl Capital’s move to offload $1.4 billion in assets and lock up withdrawals at one of its funds sparked a selloff across private-equity players—Apollo, Ares, KKR, Carlyle all took a dive. “All of a sudden (markets) discovered that AI is going to have a big impact… it’s just an over-reaction,” Miramar Capital’s Max Wasserman said. Earnings drove swings: Deere soared over 12%, Omnicom rallied, EPAM Systems plunged more than 20%. Traders are bracing for Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) numbers, eyeing them as the next key macro hurdle. Reuters
Weekly initial jobless claims dropped by 23,000 to 206,000 for the week ended Feb. 14, well below the 225,000 economists had been expecting. The Labor Department reported that continuing claims climbed to 1.869 million, suggesting laid-off workers are finding new jobs at a slower pace.
Manufacturing data sent a mixed message. The Philadelphia Fed’s general activity index climbed to 16.3 for February, but the employment index turned negative at -1.3, and shipments slipped to just 0.3.
One more data point signaling a cooler patch: The Conference Board’s Leading Economic Index slipped 0.2% in December, landing at 97.6. That’s five months down in a row. “The US LEI registered its fifth consecutive monthly decline in December, indicating continued softness in the economy in early 2026,” said the group’s senior manager, Justyna Zabinska-La Monica. The Conference Board
Trade figures painted a different demand picture. The U.S. trade deficit surged 32.6% in December to $70.3 billion—blowing past the forecasted $55.5 billion—as imports climbed, particularly capital goods linked to data-center expansion. “There just isn’t any evidence… to suggest that tariffs have materially impacted trade deficits historically,” Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics said. Reuters
Housing disappointed. January saw a 0.8% drop in contracts for previously owned homes, with the pending home sales index sliding to 70.9, according to the National Association of Realtors. “Unless housing supply increases, these additional potential buyers… could simply push up home prices,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun noted. Reuters
Fed policy hasn’t taken center stage, but it’s setting the tempo. The Jan. 27-28 minutes revealed a divided Fed: some see room for rate hikes if inflation keeps running hot, others are sticking with cuts—assuming inflation cools as models suggest. There was even debate about how AI might disrupt old assumptions about productivity and prices. “Policymakers are going in opposite directions with inflation still above the Fed’s target,” said David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation. Reuters
Traders can’t quite shake the downside scenario. The dollar’s gotten a lift, with recent data suggesting the economy’s steady enough for the Fed to hold off on cuts. Oil’s climbing too—concerns aren’t easing over a possible U.S.-Iran flashpoint in the Middle East. “Without a reason to move, traders are going to be conservative,” said Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FXStreet. Reuters
Thursday brings a slate of Fed officials set to speak later in the day. Attention then swings to Friday, Feb. 20, with the PCE price index—the Fed’s favored measure of inflation—hitting alongside the postponed fourth-quarter GDP advance estimate.
