{"id":4297,"date":"2026-07-15T16:08:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talentagestion.es\/informe-mensual-de-mercados-febrero-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:26:50","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:26:50","slug":"informe-mensual-de-mercados-febrero-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talentagestion.es\/en\/informe-mensual-de-mercados-febrero-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Monthly Market Report \u2013 February 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

News coming from the United States regarding economic data and tariff policy dominated market attention in February.<\/strong> Meanwhile, the rotation away from technology stocks towards those with a more value, defensive or cyclical bias continued<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. inflation surprised positively by coming in below expectations.<\/strong> Headline CPI stood at +2.4% compared with +2.7% previously<\/strong>, while core inflation fell to +2.5%<\/strong>, marking the best reading since April 2021<\/strong>. However, the remaining data released during the month came in above expectations and pointed to an increase in price pressures. Of particular note was the PCE, the key inflation measure monitored by the Fed<\/strong>, which rose again to 3.0%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another macroeconomic indicator that had a significant impact was economic growth<\/strong>. Year-over-year GDP growth in the final quarter of 2025 was below expectations<\/strong> and showed a clear slowdown compared with previous figures. Although a decline to +2.8%<\/strong> was expected due to the government shutdown, the final figure came in at +1.4%<\/strong>, representing a sharp drop from the previous reading (+4.4%)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. labor market showed mixed signals<\/strong>. Firstly, available private data continued to point to a slower pace of employment growth<\/strong>. In fact, the Challenger corporate layoffs index recorded its worst January reading since 2009<\/strong>. Regarding the official employment figure, it followed the usual pattern by coming in well above expectations (+130,000 new jobs compared with +65,000 expected<\/strong>). However, the previous month’s figure was revised lower, something that has occurred in 24 of the last 25 months<\/strong>. In 2025, initial published figures showed an average increase of +49,000 new jobs per month<\/strong>; after adjustments and revisions, the final official figure declined to +15,000 monthly jobs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the third week of the month, it was announced that, with 6 votes in favor and 3 against<\/strong>, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled illegal the tariffs imposed by Trump during the \u201cLiberation Day\u201d in April 2025<\/strong>. The impact of this decision remains uncertain, but estimates suggest it could involve the repayment of 60% of the total tariffs collected<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above does not prevent Trump from approving tariff measures immediately<\/strong>, but it does limit them to 15%<\/strong>, subject to prior approval by Congress and with a maximum duration of 150 days<\/strong>, after which they must be validated again. In the days following the Supreme Court ruling, Donald Trump announced that tariffs would be raised to this 15% level for all countries<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing with the tariff issue, the New York Fed published a study that caused discomfort within the U.S. government<\/strong>. The study estimates that 90% of tariffs are borne by importers<\/strong> and that a significant portion is ultimately passed on to the final consumer price<\/strong>. In summary, according to the New York Fed, tariffs have the same effect as a tax on U.S. companies<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The publication of the final U.S. deficit for 2025<\/strong> reinforces the study\u2019s conclusions. The figure reached USD 901.5 billion<\/strong>, remaining practically at the same level as in 2024 despite the significant increase in tariffs during 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the final week of the month, NVIDIA published its results<\/strong>. As has become customary, the company exceeded expectations and once again reported record figures<\/strong>. Despite this, concerns surrounding artificial intelligence persisted<\/strong> and led NVIDIA\u2019s share price to decline for two consecutive days following the earnings release. The stock\u2019s cumulative decline over the final two trading sessions of the month was -9.39%<\/strong>, making it the largest detractor from S&P 500 returns in February<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n