GLOBAL MARKETS-Tech leads US stocks rally; renewed geopolitical strife boosts oil, gold

By Stephen Culp

NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks edged higher and crude oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as investors awaited the minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting and assessed shifting 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.

The minutes from the Fed's most recent monetary policy meeting will be scrutinized for clues regarding the central bank's assessment of inflation and the labor market, and their near-term path forward regarding interest rates.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman is expected to participate in a discussion on "supervision and regulation" later in the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 325.89 points, or 0.66%, to 49,859.13, the S&P 500 .SPX rose 58.76 points, or 0.86%, to 6,901.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC rose 285.50 points, or 1.26%, to 22,861.92.

Europe's STOXX 600 touched a record high, with defense and banking stocks leading the charge, as investors digested reports of leadership changes and the ECB.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the world .MIWD00000PUS rose 9.18 points, or 0.88%, to 1,051.62.

The pan-European STOXX 600 .STOXX index rose 1.16%, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 28.72 points, or 1.16%.

Emerging market stocks .MSCIEF rose 6.07 points, or 0.39%, to 1,561.77. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS closed higher by 0.2% to 797.77, while Japan's Nikkei .N225 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 =USD, which measures the U.S. currency against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.29% to 97.41, with the euro EUR= down 0.25% at $1.1823.

Against the Japanese yen JPY=, the dollar strengthened 0.7% to 154.35.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin BTC= gained 0.55% to $68,024.50. Ethereum ETH= declined 0.01% to $1,999.01.

U.S. Treasury yields gained ground in advance of the Fed minutes release and ahead of the Treasury Department's $16 billion auction of 20-year bonds.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 2.7 basis points to 4.081%, from 4.054% late on Tuesday.

The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yield rose 1.6 basis points to 4.6992% from 4.683% late on Tuesday.

The two-year note US2YT=RR yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, rose 2.9 basis points to 3.466%, from 3.437% late on Tuesday.

The abrupt end to the Russia-Ukraine peace talks and Iran's partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent crude prices higher on renewed supply concerns.

U.S. crude CLc1 rose 3.24% to $64.35 a barrel and Brent LCOc1 rose to $69.47 per barrel, up 3.04% on the day.

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

Spot gold XAU= rose 2.46% to $4,998.34 an ounce. U.S. gold futures GCc1 rose 1.5% to $4,956.30 an ounce.