Stocks advanced Friday to finish a strong week as bank worries continued to fade and bond yields extended their recent decline. The Dow industrials rose 1.3 percent, the S&P 500 gained 1.5 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 1.7 percent. US Treasury yields fell with short coupons outperforming; the dollar was mixed, and oil prices rose.

News late Thursday that the Federal Reserve's emergency lending to banks diminished in the latest week helped ease financial stability worries. A better than expected eading in personal consumption expenditures price inflation data Friday bolstered fixed-income markets, which supported equities, especially growth stocks, where megacaps had another strong day to underpin the major averages. The market also liked a downtick in US consumer 1-year inflation expectations reported for March.

Best sectors included communications services, consumer discretionary, health care, consumer staples, real estate, and industrials. Heavily-weighted big tech shares continued to outperform. Tesla was a big winner Friday and was one of the year's top performers so far as investors expect the EV maker to report strong first-quarter deliveries next week.

Market Reflections track market reaction to the trading day's major events. Economic data, policymaker speeches, and company news are featured in this report as well as key indexes and financial instruments.

Understanding why markets respond as they do is fundamental for an investor. Market Reflections help explain how the day's events, news, and data impact the outlook for the economy and for market prices.