Traders work as they ring the opening bell on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York on February 20, 2026.
Timothy A. clary AFP | getty images
Stocks rose Friday after the Supreme Court ruled against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, boosting shares of retailers and other companies that were hit hard last year by rising import and manufacturing costs as a result of the duties.
Dow Jones Industrial Average It rose 93.81 points, or 0.2%, recovering from a 200-point loss early in the session due to disappointing economic data. S&P 500 traded up 0.3%, while nasdaq composite increased by 0.5%.
The Supreme Court struck down most of Trump’s sweeping tariff policy under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, with the majority ruling that that law “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.” The decision did not say whether tariffs that had already been paid would need to be refunded.
“The Magnificent Seven” member’s shares Amazon — a company that sources 70% of its goods from China, and which has already begun to see the impact of the tariffs on the price of some goods — jumped 2% after the decision, according to Wedbush Securities. apparel manufacturers such as Deckers Outdoors was even more like retailers home depot And down five. shares of industrial giants Kamla Reversed earlier losses, rising nearly 1%.
“Especially in the case of Amazon, a lot of their stuff is imported from China, so the tariffs will increase prices on Amazon for customers, and when prices go up, people will buy less of those things,” said Jed Ellerbrock, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “I think not having to deal with that problem anymore is a source of excitement.”
The impact on the overall market was relatively minor as Wall Street had largely expected the high court’s rebuke. Furthermore, economists expect the White House to reimpose similar tariffs using other methods.
“The next question is, ‘What is President Trump going to do about this?'” Ellerbrock said. “He has other options to impose tariffs — I think he will use them. So, I think this is an intermediate step in a fairly long story, and I think the ball is now in President Trump’s court.”
Earlier in the day, traders got a gloomy outlook on the growth of the US economy, as gross domestic product expanded 1.4% in the fourth quarter. That was well short of the 2.5% gain that economists surveyed by Dow Jones had predicted. The 4.4% gain in the third quarter was higher than expected.
According to the Commerce Department, the record-breaking government shutdown is largely to blame. The department estimates that the disruption, which occurred during the first half of the fourth quarter, reduced economic growth by about 1 percent.
In addition to the GDP data, the personal consumption expenditure price index report – the Federal Reserve’s favorite inflation gauge – showed that inflation remained steady in December. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, core PCE came in at 3%, in line with expectations, but still well above the Fed’s 2% target.
Alternative asset manager stocks continued their tough week on Friday, weighing on overall market sentiment amid rising concerns about losses linked to private debt, particularly loans in the troubled software sector. shares of blue owl capitalwhich received a redemption from one of its private credit funds this week, fell another 1% on Friday. shares of black Stone And Ares ManagementOther big players in private credit also declined 1%.
With Friday’s moves, the Dow is on track for a 0.1% gain in the period. The S&P 500 is headed for a modest gain of 0.7% this week. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is poised to break a five-week losing streak — more than 1%.
—CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed reporting.