Equities were mostly lower Thursday with investors seeing overbought conditions and rising market interest rates. The Dow industrial average firmed 0.5 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.7 percent, and the Nasdaq dropped 2.1 percent. US Treasury yields, the dollar, and oil prices all rose.

The Dow industrials outperformed with a boost from favorable earnings from IBM, Travelers, and Johnson & Johnson. Megacaps and the broader market corrected lower after the recent runup.

Disappointing quarterly results spurred a selloff in Netflix and Tesla that led to selling in other megacaps ahead of earnings reports due next week. Taiwan Semiconductor's warning about rising inventories was another big negative.

Market interest rates rose after news of an unexpected decline in weekly jobless claims, which renewed worries about the tight labor market and sticky core inflation. A soggy existing home sales report attracted less attention though homebuilder stocks had a bad day after DH Horton sold off despite better than expected earnings.

Among sectors, best performers included consumer staples, energy, utilities, and health care. Amazon dropped to join Tesla in weighing on consumer discretionary stocks. Other lagging sectors included communication services, and technology.

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.