S&P 500 slides as CPI sparks $1T wipeout claims

• Lyla Velez
• February 13, 2026
• News
• 0 Comments

Key Points:

• No confirmed proof of a $1 trillion U.S. market wipeout.
• Reports lack a market-wide tally substantiating that specific loss figure.
• Coverage emphasized inflation-driven sentiment, not a verified trillion-dollar drawdown.

A claim circulated that over $1 trillion vanished from the U.S. equity market in a single session. As of the latest reports cited here, there is no confirmed, market-wide tally substantiating that specific figure.

Available coverage emphasized macro catalysts rather than a verified total-loss calculation across all U.S. listings. Reports highlighted inflation data as the key driver of sentiment rather than a quantified, one-day $1 trillion drawdown for the entire market.

What moved markets: latest CPI inflation data and risk-off positioning

As reported by MarketWatch, trading was set to be shaped by the latest Consumer Price Index release, a common catalyst for rate expectations and equity risk appetite. In that context, cross-asset weakness was described across major benchmarks and digital assets.

As reported by TheStreet, Feb. 12 saw a broad selloff spanning precious metals, leading U.S. equity benchmarks, and cryptocurrencies. That characterization signals risk-off positioning but does not, by itself, confirm a market-wide $1 trillion loss.

Based on data from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the fund closed at 681.27, down 1.54% on Feb. 12, with a pre-market indication of 680.89 (-0.06%) at the time of this writing. SPY is a proxy for the S&P 500, and a daily decline in the ETF reflects a loss in the index’s aggregate market value without specifying a dollar figure for the entire U.S. market.

How Goldman Sachs and indexes calculate market-cap wipeout figures

“Wipeout” tallies typically reference the change in aggregate market capitalization between two points, such as the prior close and end-of-day. Sector- or theme-level baskets can register very large nominal losses even if the broader market is more mixed, which can make headlines appear larger than broad-market moves imply.

A recent historical example underscores this distinction. RBC Wealth Management noted during a prior episode that, “The worst of the damage came from the tech and software sector … $1 trillion was wiped off the market cap of software companies yesterday,” highlighting how sector totals can diverge from the entire market.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs and major index providers often publish standardized tallies by summing constituent-level changes in market values across a defined universe. In the absence of a published, universe-specific calculation from such institutions for the session in question, a market-wide $1 trillion figure remains unconfirmed.