U.S. Stocks Had a Muted Return From Presidents Day
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Here's your Closing Bell Brief for Tuesday, February 18th. I'm Danny Lewis for The Wall Street Journal. U.S. stocks saw a muted start to the trading week after the President's Day holiday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stayed about flat, gaining just 10 points to close at 44,556. The S&P 500 ticked up 15 points, and the Nasdaq gained 14.5 points.

Some investors are nervous about signs of enthusiasm in the market, particularly around meme stocks, options, and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Rising speculation and a frothy market could leave shares vulnerable to potential threats, including mounting trade tensions. In individual companies today, shares of Nike rose 6.25% after it announced a partnership with Kim Kardashian's Skims for a new brand aimed at female athletes. The long-term deal comes as Nike is working on a turnaround plan.

and Intel stock jumped 16%. That's after the Journal reported that Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company are eyeing separate deals that would break the U.S. chipmaker in two. Before we go, heads up on a correction we made to Friday's midday brief. Hamas had said it would release the last civilian American-Israeli hostage held in Gaza, but Hamas continues to hold an American hostage who is also an Israeli soldier.

An earlier version of that episode's headline incorrectly said that Hamas planned to release the last American it holds. We'll have a lot more coverage of the day's news on the WSJ's What's News podcast. You can add it to your playlist on your smart speaker or listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.