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Stocks Rise on Solid Eco Data, Russia-Ukraine Talks End Abruptly, More
18 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What economic data is influencing the stock market today?
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News when you want it with Bloomberg News Now. I'm Nathan Hager. The trading day is underway on Wall Street this morning and it's a whip around Wednesday. That's the sound of the opening bell from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. And at the open, the S&P 500 is higher by almost three tenths of one percent, up nearly 20 points.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average opens in the green by a tenth of 1%, a gain of about 70 points for the Blue Chip Index. And the Nasdaq Composite is higher at the start by about two-tenths of 1%. Ten-year Treasury yield up nearly two basis points to 4.07%. So a little bit of dip buying with some of the AI jitters in the market easing after yesterday's volatility.
We also got some fresh economic data ahead of the open. Orders for business equipment rose more than expected, up six-tenths of one percent if you leave out aircraft and defense. New home construction also hit a five-month high that month as builders took advantage of lower borrowing costs. Two-track diplomatic talks for the U.S. in Geneva may be heading down diverging tracks.
A second day of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine only lasted 90 minutes. And as Bloomberg's Tony Halpin reports, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is accusing Russia of dragging things along.
Zelensky said that Tuesday's talks were difficult and he's basically accused the Russians of dragging out the negotiations. The leader of the Russian delegation came out and spoke briefly to press, saying that they had long talks yesterday and a couple of hours today, and they'll go back and now report on progress to President Putin.
Bloomberg's Tony Halpin following the talks from Dubai. As for the other discussions in Geneva, Iran and the U.S., they're reporting progress after their latest round of nuclear talks. Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes is following that from Istanbul.
The statements that came out of that at the end were pretty positive. The Iranian foreign minister talking about how they've reached general agreement about principles. The U.S. coming out briefing the media a little later on, not as perhaps optimistically, but still saying there was progress and the Iranians are going to come back now. Bloomberg's Patrick Sykes in Istanbul.
Now, Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News that President Trump had set red lines that the Iranians have yet to work through. Crude oil prices are jumping off the back of that. West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude are up just about 3%. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reportedly been holding secret talks with the grandson of de facto Cuban dictator Raul Castro.
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Chapter 2: What were the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine talks?
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