Equities ended narrowly mixed Friday after recovering from early lows with support from a retreat in US Treasury yields. The major averages were still ending about 2 percent lower on the week as risk-off sentiment continued and trading took a distinctly defensive cast.

For Friday, the Dow industrial average firmed 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 was flat, and the Nasdaq lost 0.2 percent. US Treasury yields were mostly lower after rising through the week. Oil prices rose and the dollar was mostly weaker Friday.

Equities remained under pressure this week amid skepticism about the rally so far this year in the face of rising global interest yields and scary weakness in the Chinese economy and markets. Hawkish takeaways from the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes left investors fretting about the threat of more US rate hikes. More bad news from China's ailing property sector late this week added to risk-off sentiment.

Megacaps weighed on the major averages, largely in response to the uptrend in market interest rates. Alphabet was a notable decliner Friday, along with Meta and Amazon, though Apple managed to end higher on the day.

Among sectors, worst off Friday were communications services, technology, consumer discretionary, materials, and financials. Holding up best were energy, consumer staples, and utilities.

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.