Weekly Market Commentary: Supreme Court Ruling Against Tariffs Lifts Stocks

Sunflower Bank Weekly Market Commentary: February 23, 2026

Each week, our Wealth Management team analyzes the U.S. stock market and bond market activity and news of the previous week, summarizing their findings into a weekly market update report. The key points of this week's commentary, "Supreme Court Ruling Against Tariffs Lifts Stocks," include:

• Equity markets ended the week higher, and finished the week on a strong note, after the Supreme Court on Friday ruled against many of the tariffs President Trump has imposed. The S&P 500 rose +1.1%, the Nasdaq 100 increased +1.2%, and the Russell 2000 gained +0.7% on the week.
• In a 6-3 decision, the nation’s highest court issued an opinion that struck down the tariffs imposed by President Trump under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). President Trump announced that a global 10% tariff (later raised to 15%) would go into effect immediately. These tariffs are allowed to remain in effect for 150 days, upon which point Congress will have to vote to extend them.
• Equity markets cheered the ruling. The S&P 500 rose +0.7% on Friday and the Nasdaq almost a full percent. Although the path forward is unclear, any refund of collected tariffs would be a boost to corporations or consumers. Since the importing company pays the tariff duty, US companies and consumers would be set to receive the refund, if issued.

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