US stocks follow European shares higher; geopolitical jitters boost oil, gold

NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied, European stocks notched a record closing high and crude oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as investors parsed the ​minutes from ‌the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting and assessed evolving geopolitical developments. Technology shares helped boost all three major U.S. indexes early in the session, while gold rebounded as Ukraine peace talks ⁠ended without a clear resolution.

"Tech has obviously struggled year-to-date," said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at ⁠Carson Group in Omaha. "It’s a nice change to see tech ​take back the baton, which it clearly has dropped so far in 2026." A report that Christine Lagarde plans to leave her role as European Central Bank President early dampened the euro and bolstered the dollar.

"(Lagarde) has been a calming voice, and it's been nice to have solid leadership in place," Detrick added. "Potential rumors that she might be leaving ​a tad earlier, ‌it's shaken up currency markets a little bit." On the geopolitical front, as peace negotiations ended, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of delaying progress toward reaching a deal. Iran's temporary closure of parts of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global oil supply route, also added to supply worries.

This "double-whammy of continued geopolitical uncertainty ... has led to higher oil and higher gold prices," Detrick says.

Minutes from the Fed's most recent monetary policy meeting revealed officials were in near-unanimous agreement to hold interest rates steady, but remained ​split over their next move.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89.86 points, or 0.18%, to 49,623.05, the S&P 500 rose 30.79 points, or 0.45%, to 6,874.01 and the ‌Nasdaq Composite rose 156.31 points, or 0.69%, to 22,734.69.

Europe's STOXX 600 closed at a record high, with defense and banking stocks leading the charge, as investors assessed earnings and reports of a leadership transition at the ECB.

MSCI's gauge of ‌stocks across the globe rose 5.55 points, or 0.53%, to 1,047.99.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 1.19%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 30.30 points, or 1.22%.

Emerging market stocks rose 3.35 points, or 0.22%, to 1,559.05. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan closed higher by 0.08%, to 796.66, while Japan's Nikkei rose 577.35 points, or 1.02%, to 57,143.84.

DOLLAR ADVANCES

The ​dollar strengthened on the heels of upbeat durable goods and housing starts data, while the euro dipped on the report about Lagarde's plans to leave her post early.

The dollar index, which measures the ‌greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.6% to 97.71, with the euro down 0.57% at $1.1786.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.95% to 154.74. In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin fell 2.43% to $66,005.75. Ethereum declined 3.28% to $1,933.61. U.S. Treasury yields held their gains following the release of the Fed minutes and the Treasury Department's auction ⁠of 20-year bonds.

The yield ⁠on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes rose 2.9 basis points to 4.083%, from 4.054% late on Tuesday.

The 30-year bond ‌yield rose 2.6 basis points to 4.7089% from 4.683% late on Tuesday.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 2 basis points to 3.457%, from 3.437% ​late on Tuesday.

Crude prices surged on worries ​over supply disruption following the abrupt end to the Russia-Ukraine peace talks and worries of an escalating conflict between ‌the United States and Iran.

U.S. crude jumped 4.59% to settle at $65.19 per barrel, while Brent settled at $70.35 per barrel, up 4.35% on the day.

Gold rebounded from a one-week low as rising geopolitical tensions revived demand for the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold rose 2.1% to $4,982.89 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 2.09% to $4,985.00 an ounce.