Equities ended narrowly mixed Friday but were holding onto the week's good gains with the S&P 500 up for a remarkable seventh consecutive week. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.4 percent. US Treasury yields were mostly higher while the dollar and oil prices rose.

Equities appeared overbought in light of their recent consecutive gains and faced consolidative pressures Friday. Small cap stocks continued to outperform in a sign of broadening strength after megacaps paced the gains for many weaks.

Cautionary comments from two Federal Reserve officials, New York Fed President John Williams, and Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, dampened somewhat the market's ardour over near-term rate cuts spurred by Fed Chair Jerome Powell's appearance on Wednesday. Williams and Bostic downplayed the suggestion that rate cuts were under consideration and played up the view that the discussion at the Fed continued to be about whether policy is restrictive enough.

Among sectors, consumer discretionary and information technology fared best while lagging were industrials, financials, health care, and energy.

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.