Materials Up on Gold, Silver Gains, Glencore Earnings - Materials Roundup

Producers of metals, grains and other raw materials rose amid strong earnings and as precious-metals rally resumed.

Gold futures rose 2.1%, closing at $4986.50 an ounce. Silver futures rose 5.5% to top $77 an ounce.

Shares of Glencore rose after the metals trading and mining firm posted earnings growth for 2025 and said it remained open to deals despite the collapse of a mega-merger with rival Rio Tinto.

Federal Reserve minutes dampened hopes for rate cuts but revealed central bankers' increasingly sanguine economic-growth expectations.

The Fed "projected that real GDP growth will outpace potential growth through 2028, with the unemployment rate falling below the natural rate and staying there for multiple years," said Jeffrey Roach chief economist at brokerage LPL Financial.

Thanks to artificial-intelligence boom and other factors, "the Fed expects above?trend GDP growth over the next few years, supported by productivity gains and favorable financial conditions, said Roach.

Write to Rob Curran at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-18-26 1746ET