U.S. equity markets staged a significant recovery during afternoon trading on Tuesday, February 24th, 2026, as investors embraced a "Turnaround Tuesday" sentiment. This rally follows a volatile Monday session where the major averages plummeted on renewed concerns regarding global trade policy and potential artificial intelligence (AI) disruption in the software sector. Today, however, a combination of better-than-expected economic data and high-profile corporate partnerships has revitalized investor confidence, particularly within the technology and consumer discretionary sectors.
Major Market Indexes Performance
As of the mid-afternoon session, the major market benchmarks are showing resilient gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up approximately 410 points, or 0.8%, hovering near the 49,200 level. The S&P 500 (SPX) has climbed 0.6%, reclaiming ground after a 1% slide in the previous session. Leading the charge is the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), which has surged 1.1% as investors rotate back into high-growth semiconductor and platform stocks.
Sector performance is notably lopsided today. Technology and Consumer Discretionary are the clear leaders, while the Financials and Energy sectors are seeing more modest gains. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), often referred to as the market's "fear gauge," has retreated by nearly 5% today, signaling a cooling of the immediate panic that gripped Wall Street yesterday.
Corporate News and Major Stock Movers
The primary catalyst for today’s tech resurgence is a massive multiyear deal between Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Meta Platforms (META). Shares of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) jumped more than 8% after announcing it will supply specialized AI chips to power Meta’s expanding infrastructure. As part of the agreement, Meta Platforms (META) also secured rights to purchase up to 160 million shares of AMD, further cementing the partnership.
In the retail space, Home Depot (HD) reported fourth-quarter results that beat analyst expectations despite what leadership described as "ongoing consumer uncertainty." The company also announced a 1.3% increase in its quarterly dividend. Shares of Home Depot (HD) rose 3.2% in response. Meanwhile, Keysight Technologies (KEYS) became the top performer in the S&P 500, skyrocketing 23% after posting a significant earnings beat and providing robust revenue guidance for the upcoming quarter.
Other notable movers include FactSet Research Systems (FDS), which gained 6.4% following a new integration with Anthropic’s Claude AI. This helped lift sentiment for other software and data providers like Salesforce (CRM) and Microsoft (MSFT), which rose 4.2% and 1.1% respectively, as markets reassessed the "AI disruption" narrative that caused a sell-off in software names earlier this week. However, Nvidia (NVDA) remained relatively flat, trading with a slight downward bias as investors cautiously await its high-stakes earnings report scheduled for tomorrow.
Economic Data and Upcoming Events
Market sentiment was further bolstered today by the release of the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which rose to 91.2 in February, exceeding the consensus estimate of 87. This suggests that despite inflation concerns—with the most recent PCE reading hitting 2.9%—households remain optimistic about labor market opportunities and income prospects.
Looking ahead, all eyes are on two major events. First, President Trump is scheduled to deliver a State of the Union address tonight. Investors are looking for clarity regarding his recent proposal to raise global tariffs to 15%, a move that has already sparked volatility in international markets and pushed gold prices higher as a safe-haven asset.
Second, the market is bracing for Nvidia (NVDA)'s fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings release tomorrow, Wednesday, February 25th, after the closing bell. As a bellwether for the entire AI and semiconductor industry, Nvidia’s guidance on its Blackwell and H200 GPU lines will likely determine the market's trajectory for the remainder of the week. Other "Magnificent Seven" stocks, including Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Tesla (TSLA), are also being closely monitored for any cross-sector impact from the upcoming Nvidia results.
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications.