Daily News – 20 February 2026
Financial Markets Update | 20 February 2026
1. South Korea's Kospi Hits Fresh Record High for Second Straight Session Amid Regional Declines as U.S.-Iran Tensions Take Hold
South Korea's Kospi touched a record high for the second straight day on Friday, powered by a rally among insurance stocks and defence players. Samsung Life Insurance gained over 3.59%, while Mirae Asset Securities was up 3.69%. Defence heavyweight Hanwha Aerospace jumped 6.35%, while counterpart Firstec was up a whopping 16.7%. Index heavyweight SK Hynix rose 3.36%. However, other Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Friday, after all three major Wall Street indexes declined overnight pressured by a drop in private credit stocks and Iran-U.S. tensions.
2. Dow Drops More Than 260 Points as Private Credit, Iran Worries Weigh on Markets
Stocks fell on Thursday, leaving the S&P 500 near the flat line for the year, as investors shifted away from financials and monitored simmering tensions between the U.S. and Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 267.50 points, or 0.54%, settling at 49,395.16. The broad-based S&P 500 slipped 0.28% and ended at 6,861.89. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.31% and closed at 22,682.73. With Thursday's move, the S&P 500 was up 0.2% for the year, while the 30-stock Dow was higher by more than 2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq, however, is down more than 2% in 2026.
3. Gold Hovered Around $5,000 per Ounce on Friday, Holding a Two-Day Gain
Gold hovered around $5,000 per ounce on Friday, holding a two-day gain as traders weighed geopolitical risks alongside the Federal Reserve's policy outlook. Tensions between the US and Iran escalated after President Donald Trump set a 10–15 day deadline for nuclear deal talks, while the US deployed its largest military force in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran tempered expectations for this year's rate cuts, citing stronger-than-expected economic data. Supporting this view, initial jobless claims fell to 206K last week, highlighting labour market resilience. Investors now await PCE data due later today.
4. WTI Crude Oil Futures Rose Toward $67 per Barrel on Friday, Hitting a Six-Month High
WTI crude oil futures rose toward $67 per barrel on Friday, hitting a six-month high and heading for a weekly gain of more than 5%, after President Donald Trump set a deadline for Iran to reach a nuclear agreement. Trump signalled that negotiations would likely have no more than 10 to 15 days to advance. At the same time, the US has deployed its largest military buildup in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion, raising the prospect of a broader and more sustained operation than last June's overnight strike on Iran's nuclear facilities. The move has heightened the risk of supply disruptions, with investors concerned that a US-Iran conflict could prompt Iran to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical corridor for crude exports from the region.
5. Trump to Decide Whether to Attack Iran in Next 10 Days
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he will decide whether to launch military strikes against Iran in the next 10 days. "So now we may have to take it a step further, or we may not," Trump said at the inaugural meeting of his Board of Peace. "Maybe we're going to make a deal. You're going to be finding out over the next probably 10 days." U.S. crude oil prices rose $1.24, or 1.9%, to close at $66.43 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent gained $1.31, or 1.86%, to settle at $71.66. "It's proven to be over the years not easy to make a meaningful deal with Iran," the president said. "We have to make a meaningful deal, otherwise bad things happen." Oil prices have been moving higher this week on fears a U.S. attack on Iran is imminent. WTI is up more than 5% this week and nearly 16% so far this year.
6. Japan Inflation Falls Below BOJ's 2% Target for First Time Since March 2022
Japan's headline inflation rate fell to 1.5% in January, its lowest level since March 2022. The reading ended a run of 45 straight months in which inflation had remained above the Bank of Japan's 2% target. Core inflation rate, which excludes fresh food prices, eased to 2%, the lowest level since January 2024 and matching the 2% forecast by economists polled by Reuters. It was down from 2.4% in December. The so-called "core-core" inflation — excluding prices of fresh food and energy — came in at 2.6%, compared with 2.9% in December. The slowdown was driven by declines in fresh food, raw meat and fresh flower prices, as well as a sharper drop in petroleum products. Goods inflation fell to 1.6% from 2.7%, its lowest level since August 2021, while services inflation held steady at 1.4%.
7. U.S. Trade Deficit Totalled $901 Billion in 2025, Barely Budging Despite Trump's Tariffs
The U.S. trade deficit swelled in December, closing out a year in which the imbalance was essentially unchanged despite efforts by the Trump administration to close the wide gap. Closing out a tumultuous year in the global marketplace, the goods and services shortfall in December totalled $70.3 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That marked an increase of $17.3 billion from November and was well above the Dow Jones consensus estimate of $55.5 billion. For the full year, the U.S. ran a $901.5 billion deficit, down slightly from 2024 but only by 0.2%, or $2.1 billion. The total was also a bit less than the record $923.7 billion shortfall in 2022. The report follows a year in which President Donald Trump implemented a series of aggressive tariffs aimed at leveling the global playing field.
8. U.S. Renews Threat to Quit the International Energy Agency Over Net Zero Agenda
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Thursday that the U.S. would "pressure" the International Energy Agency to move away from net zero — and quit from the global watchdog if it failed to do this. Wright was speaking on the last day of an IEA ministerial meeting in Paris and shortly after he said the agency would need to reform for the U.S. to remain a long-term member. "There has been such a group mentality, 10 years invested in a destructive illusion of net zero by 2050, that the U.S. will use all the pressure we have to get the IEA to eventually, in the next year or so, move away from this agenda," Wright said, according to Reuters. The 2015 Paris Agreement committed nations to "net zero", the balancing of carbon emitted into the atmosphere and removed from it.
9. Johnson & Johnson Explores $20 Billion Sale of Orthopedics Unit, Source Says
Johnson & Johnson is preparing a potential sale of its orthopedics unit, in a deal that could top $20 billion, with the company eyeing private equity firms as the most likely buyers, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. The company did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. J&J last year said it had planned to separate its orthopedics unit, known as DePuy Synthes, into a standalone company within the next 18 to 24 months, marking its second major spinoff in two years as it sharpens focus on higher-growth healthcare segments. Bloomberg News first reported on this development and said J&J is assembling documents and financials for DePuy Synthes before it meets with possible buyers in the coming weeks, citing people familiar with the matter.
10. Wayfair Shares Fall as Q4 Results Fail to Impress Investors
Wayfair Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations, but shares declined in premarket trading as investors appeared unimpressed with the company's performance and outlook. The online home furnishings retailer posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.85 for the fourth quarter, exceeding the analyst estimate of $0.68. Revenue came in at $3.3 billion, in line with consensus estimates and up 6.9% compared to the same period last year. Wayfair's U.S. net revenue increased 7.4% year-over-year to $2.9 billion, while international revenue grew 3.7% to $395 million. The company noted that excluding the impact of its exit from the German market, total net revenue would have grown 7.8% YoY.
11. Netflix Has Ample Room to Increase Its Offer in Battle for Warner Bros, Sources Say
Netflix has ample cash and could bump up its offer for HBO Max owner Warner Bros Discovery if competing bidder Paramount Skydance increases its own offer, two people with knowledge of the matter said. The two media giants have been locked in a heated rivalry over Warner Bros and its storied catalogue, which includes iconic franchises like "Harry Potter", "Game of Thrones", DC Comics and Superman. Though Warner Bros is moving forward with a March 20 shareholder vote on Netflix's offer, it has given Paramount a week to come up with a more compelling bid. Netflix has bid $27.75 a share, or $82.7 billion, for Warner Bros' studio and streaming businesses while Paramount has offered $30 a share, or $108.4 billion, for the whole company, which includes Discovery Global that houses CNN, HGTV and other TV assets.
12. Etsy Shares Leap 10% on Depop Deal, Fourth-Quarter Earnings Beat
Etsy reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, surpassing Wall Street forecasts on the bottom line while revenue fell short. Shares in the online marketplace surged more than 10% after the Thursday market open by 10:11 ET, with much of the move driven by the company's agreement to sell Depop for $1.2 billion in cash to eBay. Etsy reported Q4 earnings per share of $0.92, beating analyst expectations of $0.85. Revenue came in at $881.6 million, up 6.6% year over year excluding Reverb from the prior-year period, but slightly below the $884.14 million consensus estimate. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $222.5 million, translating to a consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin of roughly 25.2%. Gross merchandise sales (GMS) reached $3.59 billion, rising 2.4% year over year, or 1.3% on a currency-neutral basis, excluding Reverb.
13. Alibaba, Baidu Shares Slide After Brief Mention in Pentagon Blacklist
Alibaba Group and Baidu shares fell sharply in Hong Kong trade on Friday after the two, along with electric vehicle maker BYD, were briefly mentioned in a U.S. list of companies with ties to the Chinese military. The Pentagon had earlier this week released an updated, Section 1260H list including the three, only to withdraw the list minutes later, and declaring it as unpublished. But the list had sparked sharp declines in Chinese tech shares, especially given that it came amid frayed relations between the world's biggest economies. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd fell 3.6%, while Baidu Inc lost 5.5% by the midday break. The two were among the biggest weights on the Hang Seng, which shed about 0.5%. BYD Co fell 1.6%, while tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, which was added to the list in early-2025, fell by a similar margin.
14. Samsung Wins Likely Exclusive Nvidia Supply Deal for High-End AI Chips
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to have won an effectively exclusive deal to supply advanced high bandwidth memory (HBM4) for the top end of Nvidia's next-generation artificial intelligence processors, South Korean outlet ChosunBiz reported on Friday. NVIDIA Corporation on Friday plans to segment HBM4 suppliers for its next-generation Vera Rubin processors into two categories — a general-purpose lineup and a performance-oriented line-up, the ChosunBiz reported, citing unspecified industry sources. The company has been collaborating with Samsung on Vera Rubin's ultra-high-performance model, using the latter's HBM4 technology. Samsung's offerings reportedly offer more advanced performance than its peers, giving the company an essentially exclusive position in the high-end segment. While Nvidia's general models will make up a greater portion of production, the high-end models are expected to offer much higher price margins.
