US Equity Indexes Rise as Treasury Yields Decline Amid Cooling Inflation

01:02 PM EST, 02/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- US equity indexes rose in a broad-based move while government bond yields fell in midday trading on Friday after inflation eased in January.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.6% to 22,726.6, the S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to 6,877.1, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5% to 49,683.9.

Utilities, materials, industrials, and health care led the gainers. The communication services sector was the sole decliner.

In economic news, the consumer price index rose 0.2% in January, compared with a Bloomberg-polled consensus that called for the month-on-month pace to remain unchanged at 0.3%. Annually, inflation cooled to 2.4% last month, the lowest level since June, from December's 2.7% and versus the 2.5% consensus.

Core inflation, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, accelerated to 0.3% last month from 0.2% in December, in line with expectations. The annual core measure eased to 2.5% - the lowest level since March 2021 - from 2.6%, as expected.

"Although measured CPI inflation is somewhat understated because of October's shutdown-related distortions, it seems to be moving in the right direction -- toward the 2% target -- as both tariff effects and labor market pressures subside," Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in a report.

Most US Treasury yields fell, with the two-year down 5.6 basis points to 3.41% and the 10-year lower by 4.8 basis points to 4.06%.

Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged in March and April, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Before January's pause, it delivered three back-to-back 25-basis-point rate cuts amid concerns surrounding the labor market.

There is currently a 51% chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points in June, and a 16% probability of a 50-basis-point cut in the same month. Jerome Powell is scheduled to step down as the Fed's chair in May.

In company news, Applied Materials (AMAT) delivered several upside surprises in fiscal Q1 results overnight, signaling a "leap forward" rather than gradual gains, Morgan Stanley said Friday in a report. Shares of Applied Materials (AMAT) jumped 9.4%, among the top gainers on the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH) said it appointed John Chidsey as CEO and president, effective immediately. Chidsey most recently served as CEO of Subway Restaurants. He succeeds Harry Sommer, who stepped down as CEO and president and resigned from the board. Shares of the cruise liner fell 5.9%, among the worst performers on the S&P 500.

Meanwhile, in the energy market, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures fell 0.1% to $62.81 a barrel.

In precious metals, gold futures rose 1.8% to $5,036.6 per troy ounce, and silver futures climbed 2.6% to $77.65 per troy ounce.

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