NEW YORK, Feb 15, 2026, 13:47 EST — Market closed.
Utilities bucked the trend last week, with the Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLU) climbing $1.26, or 2.8%, to finish at $46.50 on Friday. U.S. markets will be closed Monday for Washington’s Birthday, set to resume trading Tuesday.
Bonds rallied after softer U.S. inflation data put rate cuts back in the frame, lifting utilities that rely on dividends. The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury dropped 5.6 basis points to 4.048% as annual CPI inflation landed at 2.4%. “A bit of good news” ahead of the long weekend, said Tim Holland, chief investment officer at Orion. Reuters
Utilities led the S&P 500 sectors on Friday, climbing 2.69%, but the main index barely budged, according to Reuters. “Large cap tech stocks continue to be an anchor on the market,” said Michael James, managing director at Rosenblatt Securities. He also noted that traders’ caution late in the session wasn’t surprising ahead of the long weekend. Reuters
NextEra Energy climbed 2.03% to finish at $93.80. Duke Energy tacked on 2.52%, closing at $128.20, while Southern Co moved up 2.58% to $94.95. Exelon closed at $48.48, up 1.96%.
NextEra Energy Transmission and Exelon announced that PJM’s board gave the green light to their roughly 220-mile, 765-kilovolt transmission line proposal—a major high-voltage link intended to reinforce reliability in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the MidAtlantic. Matt Valle, who heads NextEra Energy Transmission, called the project a boost for “safe, reliable and affordable power.” Exelon executive VP Carim Khouzami cited the widening gap between demand and available supply. NextEra Energy Newsroom
NextEra announced a quarterly dividend of $0.6232 per share, bumping it up 10% from the same quarter last year, the company said. Shareholders on record as of Feb. 27 will get paid March 16.
The sector’s boost can disappear in a hurry. Should yields bounce back, utilities tend to fall behind. Meanwhile, those hefty capital spending plans? They still need to clear the hurdle of state regulators signing off on rate hikes.
Rates come next. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve publishes minutes from its latest policy meeting—a key read investors sift through to assess how officials view inflation threats and the likely direction of borrowing costs.
On Friday, investors will get a look at the Fed’s favored core PCE inflation reading, plus a first read on fourth-quarter U.S. GDP. February’s “flash” PMI surveys also land — these are initial takes on business conditions, drawn from purchasing managers’ responses. SP Global
