Wall Street Slips on Hawkish Fed Signals

2026-02-19 21:03 By Felipe Alarcon 1 min. read

The S&P 500 closed down 0.3%, the Nasdaq fell 0.4%, and the Dow lost 0.6% as investors pared risk after the FOMC minutes signaled that disinflation may take longer and that higher rates could be needed.

Longer-dated yields rebounded, while crude rallied on the Iran standoff and President Trump’s comments about possible strikes, supporting energy shares but pressuring banks.

Asset managers dropped after Blue Owl (-5.9%) tightened investor liquidity and sold $1.4 billion in loan assets, with Blackstone and Apollo down 5.4% and 5.2%, respectively.

Software names, including Salesforce, Intuit, and Cadence, slid between 1.3% and 2.8% on renewed AI disruption concerns.

Bank of America and Wells Fargo declined 1.1% each.

Meanwhile, Walmart fell 1.4% despite beating fourth-quarter revenue estimates and raising its dividend, while Deere surged 11.6% following its earnings.



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