The major stock indexes were rising on Friday morning after the Supreme Court struck down the sweeping global tariffs implemented by President Trump last year, a major setback for the president’s signature economic policy.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4% in recent trading, while the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2%. Stocks declined yesterday as oil prices climbed to a six-month high amid a major U.S. military build-up in the Middle East aimed at forcing a nuclear deal with Iran.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled the tariffs President Trump imposed last year on most of America’s trading partners are illegal. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices determined the president exceeded his authority when he exercised emergency powers to impose the import taxes.
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose 2.9% year-over-year in December, a faster rate of inflation than economists were expecting. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was in line with expectations, rising to 3% from 2.8% in November. (PCE reports are being released a month later than usual because of last year’s government shutdown.)
Friday also brought gross domestic product data, which suggested the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 1.4%, a full percentage point slower than economists expected and down sharply from 4.4% in the third quarter. (Follow Investopedia‘s live coverage of that report here.)
Also on the docket Friday are data on manufacturing and services business activity, new home sales, and consumer sentiment.
The 10-year Treasury yield, which influences interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.10%, up from 4.08% at Thursday’s close.
Shares of Applovin (APP) rose 2% in early trading amid reports the digital ad tech company is developing its own social media platform. Shares of Grail (GRAL) fell almost 50% after the company reported disappointing trial results of one of its cancer treatments. Shares of Akamai Technologies (AKAM) slumped 10% after the cloud computing company’s first-quarter guidance fell short of estimates.
Big tech stocks were mixed in early trading. Shares of Alphabet (GOOG) were up nearly 2% in recent trading. Nvidia (NVDA), Amazon (AMZN) and Meta (META) traded slightly higher. Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Tesla (TSLA) slipped less than 1%.
West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, were down slightly at $66.15 a barrel in recent trading. Gold futures rose more than 1% to $5,060 an ounce, while silver gained 4% to trade at $80.70 an ounce.
Bitcoin was recently trading around $67,000, down from highs above $68,000 earlier this morning. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, slipped 0.1% to 97.80.
February 20, 2026 10:19 AM EST
Supreme Court Strikes Down Most of Trump’s Tariffs
FROM 3 minutes ago
President Donald Trump’s signature economic policy was illegal.
That’s according to the Supreme Court, which ruled Friday against the sweeping tariffs Trump imposed on most U.S. trading partners in 2025 using his emergency powers. In a 6-3 ruling, the high court determined Trump exceeded his authority as president when he imposed the import taxes.
The ruling overturns all of the tariffs Trump imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977. That represents about 75% of all the tariffs Trump imposed last year, according to an analysis by UBS, including the “reciprocal” tariffs he placed on imports from most countries in the world.
The ruling leaves in place tariffs on specific items such as automobiles and steel, which were imposed under a different authority, section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.
“The President enjoys no inherent authority to impose tariffs during peacetime,” the ruling said. “It instead relies exclusively on IEEPA to defend the challenged tariffs.”
The court sided with Learning Resources Inc., which manufactures educational materials, and sued the administration last year arguing that IEEPA does not give Trump the authority to impose tariffs at will.
The ruling once again throws U.S. trade policy into uncertainty. Ahead of the ruling, the Trump administration vowed to re-impose tariffs under different legal justifications if the court ruled against tariffs. The administration would “start the next day” to reestablish tariffs, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told the New York Times last month.
It was unclear how soon Trump would impose new tariffs, or whether they would be as high as the old ones.
February 20, 2026 09:44 AM EST
Why One Expert Thinks Palantir’s Slumping Stock Is an Opportunity for Investors
FROM 39 minutes ago
Palantir shares have slumped lately. Does that make them a deal?
Shares of Palantir (PLTR) were down about 2% in early Friday trading. That leaves them down about 36% from their November highs amid a broader pullback in software stocks and some worries Palantir’s valuation may have eclipsed its fundamentals. The stock popped earlier this month after turning in Street-beating earnings, but that didn’t stop the slide.
But that pullback may be overdone, analysts at Mizuho suggested in a note to clients, saying now could be a good time to pick up Palantir shares.
Mizuho on Wednesday upgraded Palantir’s stock to “outperform” from a neutral rating, setting a $195 price target that is 44% above Wednesday’s close.
The analysts pointed to strong AI demand trends and growth in the company’s commercial business. Palantir “is in a category of one, delivering total revenue growth, acceleration, and margin expansion at scale that is unlike anything else in software,” they wrote.
Of the eight analysts with current ratings tracked by Visible Alpha, only half consider the stock a “buy,” while half hold neutral ratings. (Michael Burry, meanwhile, has recently come out as a Palantir bear.) But the Street’s mean target is higher than Mizuho’s: The average just above $207 would suggest a return to the stock’s November high.
February 20, 2026 08:48 AM EST
U.S. Economy Grew Far Slower Than Expected Last Quarter
FROM 1 hr 35 min ago
Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product grew at an annualized rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter, down from 4.4% in the third quarter. It was also well below economists’ expectations of a 2.4% increase.
Friday’s figures are an advance estimate that the bureau will revise twice as new data comes in. Final numbers will be released in April.
Before Friday’s release, when economists were still predicting a two percentage point slowdown, President Donald Trump took to social media to blame slower GDP growth on his political opponents.
“The Democrat Shutdown cost the U.S.A. at least two points in GDP,” he wrote.
Economists say the historically long 43-day shutdown in October and November hindered economic growth. Deutsche Bank researchers estimate that had the shutdown not happened, the economy would have grown 70 basis points more in the fourth quarter.
February 20, 2026 08:15 AM EST
Stock Futures Slip Ahead of Key Economic Reports
FROM 2 hr 8 min ago
Futures contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1% in recent trading.
S&P 500 futures were also off 0.1%.
Nasdaq 100 contracts dipped a similar amount.
