Morning Brew February 26 2026

Good Morning

US equities extended gains Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up 0.9%, the Nasdaq climbing 1.4%, and the Dow adding 0.7%. Oracle gained 1.2% on an upgrade, and Microsoft and Palantir jumped 3% and 4.2%. Optimism grew as Anthropic’s new integrations reinforced AI as complementary to, rather than disruptive of, legacy software. Snowflake gained 5% after forecasting product revenue this year to be above initial estimates while Circle rallied 35% after reporting earnings that topped estimates on stablecoin demand. Salesforce rallied during normal hours but lost 10% after hours.

In Europe, HSBC jumped 7.6% after strong 2025 results. Autos advanced over 1% after the U.S. confirmed a lower‑than‑feared 10% tariff on European imports, though SAP, Adyen and major banks lagged. German confidence weakened, while France improved.

This morning, Indexes are a little lower as the strong Nvidia numbers fail to excite traders and investors:  the US Tech 100 is 25200, -0.5%, the GER40 25112, the US 500 -0.35% and the US 30 gives up 0.13%.

All in all, less volatility than predicted.

The USD Index is at 97.60 as EURUSD is at 1.1815, GBPUSD 1.3550 and USDJPY 156. Gold remains 5195 and Silver 89.30. Bitcoin stabilized to 68k

US 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 6.09%, the lowest since September 2022, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications grew 0.4%, with refinancing up 4.1% but purchases down 4.7%.

French utility Engie on Wednesday struck an agreement to acquire UK Power Networks, an electricity distribution network operator, for an equity value of 10.5 billion pounds

Tom Barkin said it was not clear that the AI rollout will displace workers, the technology could enable workers and help the job market become more efficient

Iran and the U.S. hold the latest round of talks in Geneva A security incident in Cuba raises concerns: Cuban forces killed four exiles and wounded six others who sailed into Cuban waters aboard a Florida-registered speedboat on Wednesday and opened fire on a Cuban patrol, the Cuban government said at a time of heightened tensions with the United States

With the main event of the week done and dusted, todays focus will be on geopolitics with Cuba and the Iran negotiations. Traders will also consider the Nvidia earnings and the implications for the broader market.

The economic agenda is thin:

February 26, 2026

• Economic Indicators:
• Euro Zone: Consumer Confidence Final (-12.2)
• Canada: Business Barometer (59.47)
• United States: Initial Jobless Claims (206k)
• Earnings Releases:
• Before Open: Vistra Energy, ACM Research
• After Close: Celsius Holdings, Dell Technologies

February 27, 2026

• Economic Indicators:
• Japan: CPI, Overall Tokyo (1.5%)
• Denmark: Unemployment Rate (2.6%)
• France: GDP QQ Final, CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY, Unemployment Class-A SA
• Switzerland: KOF Indicator (102.5), Official Reserves Assets CHF (852,606.51M)
• Germany: Unemployment Rate SA (6.3%), CPI Prelim YY (2.1%)
• Canada: GDP Annualized (2.6%), GDP (0.0%)
• Earnings Releases:
• Before Open: D-Wave Quantum, Energy Fuels
• After Close:, Endeavour Silver

March 1, 2026

• Economic Indicators:
• Australia: S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Final (51.5)