Market Summary - February 17, 2026

The market opened the week on Wall Street with uncertainty, as major indices remained close to their opening levels by the end of the session. The US100 index was reported at 24,891.25, reflecting a slight increase of 0.50%.

Key Economic Indicators

The NY Empire State manufacturing index fell to 7.1, which was better than expected.
The Conference Board's employment trends index rose to 105.06.
ADP reported a weekly employment change of 10.3 thousand new jobs.

Corporate News

Apple Inc. is reportedly accelerating its development of wearable devices integrated with AI solutions, leading to a 3% increase in its stock price. Additionally, Anthropic has launched a new version of its Sonnet model, version 4.6.

Palo Alto Networks is set to report its earnings after the market closes, with expectations for earnings per share (EPS) to exceed $9.3 and revenue to surpass $2.5 billion.

Central Bank Insights

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee indicated that the central bank might consider a series of rate cuts in 2026 if inflation remains around the 2% target.

European Market Overview

European markets experienced moderate gains, with the DAX leading at an increase of 0.8%. Other indices such as Spain’s IBEX35, the UK’s FTSE 100, and Switzerland’s SMI followed closely with gains around 0.7%. The CAC40 saw limited gains of 0.4%, while Poland’s WIG20 faced declines exceeding 1.2%.

The UK reported a rise in unemployment to 5.2%, while Germany's Consumer Price Index (CPI) met expectations at 2.1%.

Foreign Exchange Market

The British pound was the main loser, declining over 0.5% against both the euro and the dollar, and as much as 0.6% against the Japanese yen. Conversely, the New Zealand and Australian dollars showed moderate strengthening against a basket of currencies.

Commodities Market

Oil and gold prices faced downward pressure, with oil prices falling to $62 per barrel and gold slightly below $4,900. Silver prices dropped by 3.6%, while agricultural commodities like coffee and cocoa fell more than 4% due to oversupply concerns. Wheat also declined by 2%, and industrial metals such as copper and nickel saw decreases of around 1.5%.

Cryptocurrency Market

The cryptocurrency market had a mixed performance, with Bitcoin down just under 1% and remaining below $68,000. Ethereum, however, showed resilience, increasing by about 0.5% and moving closer to the $2,000 mark.