NextFin News -
Market Close — February 13, 2026
The U.S. stock market closed mixed as investors weighed cooler-than-expected inflation readings against still-robust labor-market signals and continued technology-sector volatility. Sentiment was cautious with a rotation into defensive, income-oriented sectors while marquee tech names pressured the Nasdaq.
Indexes
The S&P 500 closed at 6,836.17, up 0.05% (change +3.41 points). The Nasdaq-100 closed at 22,546.67, down 0.22% (change -50.48 points). The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 49,500.93, up 0.10% (change +48.95 points).
Sector Performance
Defensive sectors led gains as investors favored utilities, real estate and healthcare while financials and communication services were flat to lower.
- XLU (Utilities): +2.76% (close 46.50, volume 42,421,010)
- XLRE (Real Estate): +1.47% (close 43.50, volume 10,730,105)
- XLV (Healthcare): +1.07% (close 157.67, volume 16,636,856)
- XLF (Financials): -0.06% (close 51.66, volume 56,269,882)
- XLC (Communication Services): -0.05% (close 114.58, volume 7,412,325)
Major Movers
Large-cap tech stocks underperformed amid profit-taking and continued AI-related uncertainty, while select non-Magnificent Seven names saw earnings-driven moves.
- Apple (AAPL): $255.78, -2.27% (change -$5.95), volume 54,894,932, market cap ~$37,551.4B.
- Nvidia (NVDA): $182.78, -2.23% (change -$4.16), volume 159,896,041, market cap ~$44,424.7B.
- Tesla (TSLA): $417.44, +0.09% (change +$0.37), volume 50,864,035, market cap ~$15,664.2B.
- Microsoft (MSFT): $401.32, -0.13%, volume 33,890,985, market cap ~$29,800.5B.
- Amazon (AMZN): $198.79, -0.41%, volume 65,753,450, market cap ~$21,339.9B.
- Alphabet (GOOGL): $305.72, -1.06%, volume 38,186,588, market cap ~$36,983.0B.
- Meta (META): $639.77, -1.55%, volume 12,262,179, market cap ~$16,183.3B.
Other Movers
Outside the largest tech names, several companies posted notable single-stock moves on earnings-related news, including Rivian, Moderna and Applied Materials.
Macro & Policy
The January Consumer Price Index showed headline CPI rising 0.2% month-over-month, bringing year-over-year headline inflation to 2.4%, while core CPI cooled to about 2.5% year-over-year. The softer-than-expected inflation print provided modest relief, but stronger recent payroll gains underscore a resilient labor market that complicates the timing of Fed rate cuts.
The Federal Open Market Committee's January 28 statement maintained the target federal funds range at 3.50%–3.75%; two members dissented preferring a cut at that meeting. Market commentary following today's data emphasized that the Fed is likely to assess further labor and inflation prints before altering policy, pushing near-term rate-cut expectations further out.
Geopolitical and trade-policy developments, along with regulatory scrutiny of platform businesses, remain watch items for investors—particularly for semiconductors, industrials and select consumer names.
Outlook
Near term, participants will watch upcoming corporate earnings (especially tech and semiconductors), further CPI/PCE and PPI reports, and labor-market releases that will shape monetary-easing expectations. The immediate tone is cautious: defensive sectors led gains while marquee tech names underperformed amid the interplay of cooling inflation and resilient employment.
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