Traders at work at the New York Stock Exchange on February 18, 2026.
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US stocks on Tuesday advanced micro device Software stocks also rose as investors’ concerns about artificial intelligence’s disruption to certain industries eased.
of S&P500 It rose 0.77% to close at 6,890.07. Nasdaq Composite It rose 1.04% to settle at 22,863.68. of Dow Jones Industrial Average It added 370.44 points (0.76%) and finished at 49,174.50. The 30-stock index was buoyed by gains of nearly 2%. home depot The stock price rose after the company’s financial results exceeded expectations for the first time in a year. IBM Stock prices, which fell the previous trading day as a result of the aforementioned AI concerns, also fueled the Dow’s rise.
AMD stock has since risen 8.8%. meta platform announced a multi-year agreement with a semiconductor company. The new partnership includes the deployment of up to 6 gigawatts of AMD graphics processing units for AI data centers. Meta also plans to invest up to 160 million shares of the chipmaker’s stock in AMD through performance-based warrants.
The move comes a week after Meta announced it was spending millions of dollars. Nvidia’s Chips are being incorporated into the construction of data centers. The AI chip darling’s stock rose 0.7%.
docusign Anthropic was also a winner, up more than 2%, after announcing that its Claude Cowork can now connect to Docusign and other existing tools in organizations such as Google Drive and Gmail. The move gave investors some optimism that AI might be able to complement software companies rather than replace them.
It has spread to other areas of the software field as well. shares of sales force — also working with Anthropic — and ServiceNow They increased by more than 4% and 1%, respectively. of iShares Enhanced Technology Software Sector ETF (IGV) Although up nearly 2%, it remains more than 30% below its 52-week high.
“The market itself seemed to be in a sell first, ask questions later mentality. That’s been going on for a while, and that’s why we’ve seen even some of the enterprise software companies take a pretty big hit,” Anshul Sharma, chief investment officer at Savvy Wealth, told CNBC. He added that the day’s action was “a typical relief rally after a selloff.”
Sharma also said he’s not entirely sold on the theory that’s been circulating on Wall Street lately that AI will soon replace much enterprise software.
“For a very large company, from a liability perspective, it’s incredibly risky to say, ‘Okay, now we’re going to move away from enterprise software (something that’s proven, tested, and matches our risk parameters) and build it in-house. All of this is going to happen over the next few months and quarters,” he said. “The software decline was an immediate response.”
Major averages fell on Monday as concerns about AI disruption reignited. Tensions between the United States and Iran also made traders nervous, as President Donald Trump threatened to raise global tariffs to 15%. Global 10% U.S. tariffs went into effect on Tuesday.
