Markets News, Feb. 19, 2026: S&P 500, Dow Snap Winning Streak as U.S.-Iran Tensions Drive Oil Prices to 6-Month High

ETHReserveBank · 2026-02-21T15:43:48+00:00

Stocks declined on Thursday, ending a three-day winning streak, as oil prices reached a six-month high due to rising U.S.-Iran tensions. Major indexes, including the Dow and S&P 500, fell, while mixed earnings reports affected major stocks like Walmart and Carvana.

ETHReserveBank

2026-02-21 15:43:48

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Stocks fell on Thursday, snapping a three-day winning streak for the S&P 500 and the Dow, as oil prices rose to a six-month high amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average led indexes lower, falling 0.5%. The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite each slipped 0.3%. The major indexes posted respectable gains yesterday as pressure on tech stocks eased.

Shares of Walmart (WMT) slipped 1.5% despite reporting a strong quarter of sales growth. In other earnings news, Carvana (CVNA) shares skidded 8% after the online used car seller’s missed estimates on some key profitability metrics. Doordash (DASH) stock rose 1.5% after the delivery service said it expects users to spend more on its platform this quarter than analysts expected, a forecast that offset otherwise weak results.

Big tech stocks were mixed on Thursday following reports ChatGPT maker OpenAI is set to close a $100 billion funding round. The unprofitable startup has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on computing capacity over the next few years. Shares of Apple (AAPL) fell more than 1%, while Nvidia (NVDA), Alphabet (GOOG), and Microsoft (MSFT) posted small losses. Amazon (AMZN), Meta (META), Broadcom (AVGO) and Tesla (TSLA) inched higher.

Oil prices climbed to their highest level since August as the U.S. built up its military presence in the Middle East amid tense negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. West Texas Intermediate futures, the U.S. crude oil benchmark, rose about 2% at $66.55 a barrel. Gold prices ticked up 0.2% to $5,015 an ounce, and silver rose 0.7% to $78.20 an ounce.

The 10-year Treasury yield, which impacts interest rates on a variety of consumer loans including mortgages, was recently 4.07%, down slightly from Wednesday’s close at 4.08%.

Bitcoin was recently trading around $67,000 after slipping below $66,000 earlier in the session. The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the value of the greenback against a basket of currencies, rose 0.1% to 97.80.

BTC0,18%

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