New York, Feb 22, 2026, 00:56 EST — The market is shut for the day.
- The S&P 500 closed out Friday with a 0.69% gain at 6,909.51. The Nasdaq was up 0.90%, while the Dow tacked on 0.47%.
- Nvidia’s earnings land midweek—investors are watching closely for the next signal on the AI trade.
- Trade policy snapped back into the spotlight, with the Supreme Court weighing in on tariffs and President Donald Trump announcing his latest tariff reset.
Nvidia’s earnings are on deck this week, setting up what looks like the next key moment for the AI-driven rally that’s been tossing U.S. stocks around.
This year isn’t off to a smooth start—big tech’s lost its footing, software stocks have taken a hit as “AI disruption” jitters spread, and now trade policy is rattling again thanks to a Supreme Court decision on tariffs. Reuters
Stocks in the U.S. ended Friday in positive territory after the Supreme Court tossed out Trump’s previous global tariffs. The S&P 500 gained 0.69% to close at 6,909.51. The Nasdaq advanced 0.90% to 22,886.07, while the Dow added 0.47%, finishing at 49,625.97. “Today is a removal of some uncertainty, and we’re on to the next phase,” said Mike Dickson, who heads research and quantitative strategies at Horizon Investments. Reuters
The “next phase” might bring more turbulence. Trump announced Saturday he intends to bump the temporary blanket tariff up to 15% from 10%, tapping Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974. That provision caps such tariffs at 150 days, unless Congress steps in to prolong them. “This kind of fast turn really highlights the unpredictability for U.S. trade partners,” said Wendy Cutler, a former top U.S. trade official now at Asia Society. Reuters
Nvidia reports Wednesday, but for most, last quarter’s numbers will take a back seat to the outlook and CEO Jensen Huang’s commentary. Reuters highlighted strategists saying Nvidia’s streak of standout quarters makes a true “surprise” a tough act, even as analysts remain sharply divided—reflected in the unusually wide range of forecasts. Reuters
Deal speculation circles Nvidia once again. The chipmaker is nearing a $30 billion stake in OpenAI, according to a source cited by Reuters, as part of a new fundraising push that may put ChatGPT’s creator’s valuation near $830 billion.
Fresh macro numbers aren’t giving the Fed much reason to shift course yet. Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP posted a 1.4% annualized gain, according to Reuters, dragged down by a sharp pullback in government outlays after last year’s shutdown. “With the economy and labor market stabilizing and inflation still elevated, we expect the Fed will remain on prolonged hold,” said Michael Pearce, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics. Reuters
Inflation came in above forecasts for a key metric tracked by the Fed. Core PCE inflation, which strips out food and energy, ticked up 0.4% in December. Economists noted that their outlook for January might get shaken up after the Producer Price Index report drops next Friday. Barclays economist Pooja Sriram flagged a surge in legal services prices, warning it could distort the upcoming data.
Housing data sends a muddled message heading into a fresh batch of retail earnings. December’s new home sales slid 1.7% to an annual rate of 745,000 units, even as mortgage rates retreated—Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed averaged 6.01% this week, according to Reuters.
Equity bulls have a clear concern here: tariff headlines refuse to settle, inflation isn’t letting up, and that’s enough to knock the wind out of rate-cut expectations. In that case, Nvidia faces a tougher job. Being “good” won’t cut it—investors need proof that the top AI buyers are still getting their money’s worth from this spending cycle.
