Equities ended narrowly mixed Monday after seesawing around unchanged with investors largely in wait-and-see mode ahead of news. The Dow industrials eased 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 firmed 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.2 percent. US Treasury yields, the dollar, and oil prices all rose.

Rising bond yields weighed on risk appetite as did ongoing worry over the US debt ceiling. The market didn't focus on the latest New York Fed survey of US consumer inflation expectations showing medium- and longer-term expectations ticked up in April while 1-year expectations declined.

Trading was muted ahead of the Federal Reserve's senior loan officer survey but its release at midafternoon spurred a short-lived downtick as the survey showed a mostly as-expected tightening in bank credit conditions. Now the market has entered a vigil awaiting Wednesday's consumer price index report.

Regional banks started the day in positive territory but the uptick ran out of steam and reversed. Most stock sectors lost ground with industrials and real estate lagging the most. On the upside, communications services outperformed, paced by gains in Google and Meta/Facebook.

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.