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Market participants had plenty of news to sift through on Friday, including updates on inflation and economic growth and a key court ruling.
By
Karee Venema
published
20 February 2026
in News
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Stocks were volatile on Friday as market participants sifted through an onslaught of headlines – including the Supreme Court's ruling that most of President Donald Trump's tariff policies are illegal. The price action stabilized in afternoon trading, though, with the three main indexes finishing the day in positive territory.
At the close, the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5% at 49,625, the broader S&P 500 was 0.7% higher at 6,909, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.9% to 22,886.
Ahead of the Supreme Court's monumental decision – which was widely expected by many on Wall Street – markets were hit with a round of worse-than-anticipated economic reports.
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Sign upThe Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index for December was up 0.4% month over month and 2.9% year over year. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, PCE rose 0.4% from November to December and 3% from the year-ago period.
The monthly figures were slightly higher than economists expected and faster than what was seen in November.
The PCE data, which is the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, follows Wednesday's release of the minutes from the January Fed meeting that showed "a number of" central bank officials were willing to keep interest rates unchanged "until there was clear indication that the progress of disinflation was firmly on track."
The Bureau of Economic Analysis also said this morning that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter – much slower than the 2.5% rate many economists estimated.
The BEA cited a downturn in federal spending as one reason gross domestic product (GDP) decelerated in the final three months of 2025, a period that included the longest government shutdown on record.
"The Q4 GDP and December PCE data showed an unwelcome mix of lower growth than expected and a higher inflation read," says Stephen Coltman, head of macro at 21shares.
However, Coltman notes that the impact is somewhat muted "by the fact that this data is quite lagged, and does not match the trend in the more recent data we have seen for January (jobs, ISM surveys, CPI)."
The Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs
Attention quickly turned to the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling that found the International Emergency Economic Powers Act does not allow the president to impose tariffs.
"Had Congress intended to convey the distinct and extraordinary power to impose tariffs, it would have done so expressly," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts in the decision (pdf).
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"While the decision is meaningful from a legal standpoint, it does not represent a wholesale reversal of U.S. trade policy," says Jason Pride, chief of investment strategy and research at Glenmede. "The administration retains multiple alternative authorities that could allow tariffs to be re-implemented in largely similar form, suggesting continuity rather than disruption in the overall tariff regime."
Indeed, in a mid-afternoon press conference, Trump, who said the ruling was "deeply disappointing," announced a 10% global tariff using Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to impose tariffs for 150 days.
LyondellBasell halves its dividend
In single-stock news, LyondellBasell Industries (LYB, +2.4%) slashed its quarterly dividend to 69 cents per share from $1.37 per share.
The chemical company, which makes materials such as plastics and fuels, has seen its top and bottom lines decline in recent years amid oversupply and demand issues.
Track all markets on TradingView"With markets expected to remain challenged, we have made the decision to recalibrate the dividend to better position the company to thrive once markets recover," said CEO Peter Vanacker in the press release.
UBS Global Research analyst Lucas Beaumont forecast a dividend cut following LYB's fourth-quarter earnings miss in January.
"If LYB wants to remain comfortably above $1-1.5 billion in cash balances for the next two years, we think the dividend needs to be cut by ~50%," Beaumont wrote in a January 30 note. The analyst has a Sell rating on the large-cap stock and a $42 price target, representing implied downside of 25% to current levels.
GRAIL sinks 50% on failed cancer drug study
GRAIL (GRAL) was one of the more noteworthy movers on Friday, with the health care stock sinking 50.6%.
Track all markets on TradingViewPressuring shares were disappointing trial results for the company's multi-cancer screen test, which did not meet its primary endpoint.
GRAIL currently sells its Galleri cancer screening test and saw U.S. revenue for the product rise 26% year over year in Q4. The company is aiming to get Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the test to widen its commercial base.
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Karee VenemaSocial Links NavigationSenior Investing Editor, Kiplinger.comWith over a decade of experience writing about the stock market, Karee Venema is the senior investing editor at Kiplinger.com. She joined the publication in April 2021 after 10 years of working as an investing writer and columnist at a local investment research firm. In her previous role, Karee focused primarily on options trading, as well as technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis.
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