On the evening of February 19, U.S. stock markets opened lower across the board, while gold prices suddenly declined. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.42%, the Nasdaq Composite had fallen 0.44%, and the S&P 500 Index dropped 0.37%.

In individual stock movements, Walmart rose more than 2%, despite having fallen over 2% in pre-market trading. The company forecast adjusted earnings per share between $2.75 and $2.85 for fiscal year 2027, below market expectations of $2.97. Meanwhile, Amazon officially surpassed Walmart to become the world's highest-revenue company.

Most Chinese concept stocks weakened, with Xunlei down over 2%, and iQiyi and Kingsoft Cloud each falling more than 1%.

European equity markets also declined collectively. The Euro Stoxx 50 Index fell nearly 1%, the UK's FTSE 100 Index dropped 0.54%, France's CAC 40 Index declined 0.68%, Germany's DAX Index decreased 0.91%, and Italy's FTSE MIB Index fell more than 1.5%.

International gold and silver prices experienced sharp pullbacks. Spot gold, which had risen nearly 1% in the afternoon to above $5,010 per ounce, suddenly reversed course in the evening, turning negative at one point.

Spot silver saw its gains narrow significantly, up only 0.94% at the time of writing, after having risen more than 2.8% earlier in the day.

The U.S. dollar strengthened, with the dollar index climbing above 98 for the first time since February 6.

Market developments were influenced by two key factors. First, reports emerged regarding U.S.-Iran tensions. Multiple U.S. media outlets cited anonymous national security officials stating that the U.S. military is prepared to strike Iran as early as Saturday, February 21, though President Trump has not yet made a final decision.

Second, uncertainty increased regarding future Federal Reserve interest rate cuts. Latest data showed U.S. initial jobless claims for the week ending February 14 fell to 206,000, the lowest since the week of January 10 and below market expectations of 225,000. Analysts noted this marked the largest drop in weekly jobless claims since November 2025, further indicating labor market stabilization.

Federal Reserve official Neel Kashkari commented that the U.S. labor market remains quite resilient, slowing but still "good or even very good." He stated monetary policy is nearing neutral and criticized comments from White House officials as attempts to undermine Fed independence, emphasizing the Fed's commitment to data-driven decisions free from external interference.