Mucahithan Avcioglu
February 19, 2026•Update: February 19, 2026
ISTANBUL
US stocks closed higher Wednesday, driven by gains in key tech names, as investors weighed the release of the minutes from the Fed’s policy meeting last month.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26%, or 129.47 points, to 49,662.66.
The Nasdaq gained 0.78%, or 175.25 points, to 22,753.64 , while the S&P 500 added 0.56%, or 38.09 points, to reach 6,881.31.
The Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the "fear index," fell 3.3% to 19.62.
Investors weighed the Federal Reserve’s January meeting minutes, which revealed that participants mostly supported the central bank's decision to hold its key interest rate steady in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%. However, officials were divided on the path of monetary policy in the aftermath.
“In considering the outlook for monetary policy, several participants commented that further downward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate would likely be appropriate if inflation were to decline in line with their expectations,” the document said.
Nvidia shares rose over 1.6% on Meta's announcement Tuesday that it will deploy millions of Nvidia chips in its data center buildout.
Amazon, another "Magnificent Seven" member, increased by roughly 1.8%.
On the data side, US industrial production rose 0.7% month-on-month in January, exceeding market expectations of a 0.4% increase.
New orders for US-manufactured durable goods declined less than expected in December, falling 1.4% from the previous month.
