US, European stocks rise, Treasury yields gain after Supreme Court strikes down Trump tariffs
Futures-options traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange's NYSE American (AMEX) in New York City, U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK, Feb 20 : U.S. and European stocks advanced on Friday and Treasury yields rose as investors absorbed a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down President Trump's tariffs, while also parsing a weak GDP report and higher-than-expected inflation data.
All three major U.S. stock indexes moved higher immediately following the Supreme Court's decision. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on track to notch weekly gains, while the blue-chip Dow is currently flat versus last Friday's close.
Europe's STOXX 600 index extended gains following the ruling while gold prices came off the day's highs in the immediate aftermath.
The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling struck down Trump's sweeping tariffs enacted under a law meant for use in national emergencies, and has widespread implications for the global economy.
"There's a belief that tariffs have actually hurt the economy, and maybe we see that in these weak GDP numbers that we got earlier today," said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder in New York. "And tariffs play right into that, hurting the U.S. especially in global trade."
"Striking down of these tariffs will benefit corporate bottom lines, corporate earnings," Ghriskey said, adding that the decision "has ramifications across the economic spectrum but there's got to be a lot of disruption, and we’ll have to see the reaction from the White House."
Before Wall Street's opening bell, the Commerce Department released its advance take on fourth-quarter GDP, which showed the U.S. economy grew at a sharply decelerated 1.4 per cent on a quarterly annualized basis in the last months of 2025. Its separate Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the inflation gauge favored by the U.S. Federal Reserve, revealed price growth heated up in December.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 122.76 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 49,517.92, the S&P 500 was up 41.24 points, or 0.60 per cent, at 6,902.84 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 234.12 points, or 1.03 per cent, to 22,915.65.
European stocks jumped on the heels of the Supreme Court ruling, and remained on course for weekly gains on an improving corporate earnings outlook, while geopolitical turmoil remained on investors' radar.
MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 5.06 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,052.27.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index advanced 0.78 per cent, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 19.55 points, or 0.78 per cent.
The emerging market stocks index added 3.41 points, or 0.22 per cent, to 1,566.75. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed higher by 0.17 per cent, at 802.57, while Japan's Nikkei fell 642.13 points, or 1.12 per cent, to 56,825.70.
SAFE-HAVEN DEMAND FOR GOLD PERSISTS
Gold prices jumped as the soft GDP report offset hot inflation data, but pared those gains slightly after the tariff ruling. Even so, rising U.S.-Iran tensions continued to support demand for the safe-haven metal.
Spot gold was up 0.78 per cent at $5,037.73 an ounce. U.S. gold futures advanced 1.6 per cent to $5,055.50 an ounce.
U.S. Treasury yields rose following the Supreme Court's ruling.
The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes added 1.9 basis points to 4.094 per cent, from 4.075 per cent late on Thursday.
The 30-year bond yield rose 3.1 basis points to 4.7352 per cent from 4.704 per cent late on Thursday.
The two-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 0.8 basis points to 3.478 per cent, from 3.47 per cent late on Thursday.
The dollar turned lower after the top U.S. court's tariff decision, but was still on track for its biggest weekly gain since October.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.15 per cent to 97.74, with the euro up 0.1 per cent at $1.1784.
In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin gained 0.65 per cent to $67,349.65. Ethereum rose 0.38 per cent to $1,955.40.
Crude prices eased but were poised to log a weekly gain on rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
U.S. crude fell 0.33 per cent to $66.21 a barrel and Brent fell to $71.36 per barrel, down 0.42 per cent on the day.
