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Happy Wednesday. This is TheStreet’s Stock Market Today for Feb. 18, 2026. You can follow the latest updates on the market here in our daily live blog.
Markets are much more decisive today than they were yesterday. 60.8% (3,378) issues are advancing against 36% (2,000) that are declining, while all major U.S. benchmarks are up.
Speaking of which, that brings us to our Midday Movers list, where we capture a glimpse of the top and bottom 20 stocks on U.S. markets today. With the markets skewed to the upside today, the winners are showing out extra strong:
The U.S. market is now opened. U.S. equities are rising this morning after Meta announced it would expand the scope of its partnership with Nvidia, committing to use even more AI chips in its data center projects.
The positive AI news has helped float equity benchmarks this morning. 30 minutes into trading, the Russell 2000 (+1.15%) and Nasdaq (+1.07%) are leading the way. The S&P 500(+0.74%) and Dow (+0.52%) aren’t far behind.
Among S&P 500 sectors, tech is among the six in the green, up 0.37%. The leaders are energy (+1.24%), financials (+0.94%), and discretionary (+0.73%).
As mentioned in our A.M. Update, this morning saw a swath of big economic reports. Chief among them were housing-related reports like Building Permits (Prelim) and Housing Starts, plus Durable Goods Orders and Capacity Utilization. Most of these reports arrived at or exceeding expectations. At least some of that optimism might be reflected in the 10Y Treasury, which is 2.9 bips higher at 4.083% as a result.
In recent weeks, hundreds of U.S. assets (planes, air craft carriers, fighter jets, etc.) have been mobilized to Europe, appearing to stage for an armed conflict with Iran. Unlike the Venezuela operation, which involved moving on the country and nabbing the leader while leaving the government apparatus in place, reports claim that an incursion in the region would be more long-lasting.
The revelation has pushed up commodities, with continuous contracts in Crude Oil (+3.03% to $64.22) jumping above $60. Gold (+2.37% to $5,022.40) and Silver (+6.09% to $78.015) have also risen on the geopolitical jitters.
Good morning.
Here is today’s slate of economic data and earnings:
