Stocks rose again Wednesday with big technology shares continuing their march higher and earnings news providing support. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, and the Nasdaq advanced 1.0 percent. US Treasury yields and oil prices rose while the dollar was mostly weaker.

The S&P 500 ended barely short of the 5000 level with the market feeding on its own momentum as investors appear keen to avoid missing out. Favorable buzz around artificial intelligence is supporting selected big tech, especially Nvidia and Microsoft, which set new highs Wednesday, along with Alphabet and Amazon. Small caps continued to lag.

The market appeared unfazed by another batch of cautious comments from Federal Reserve officials, who are all saying they are in no rush to cut interest rates and want more evidence that inflation is whipped. Investors appear confident the Fed pivot is coming, if later than expected.

Among sectors, best were autos, chipmakers, software, homebuilders, building products, big pharma, managed care, steel, chemicals, and truckers, largely on earnings news. Lagging were biotech, media, apparel, cruise lines, regional banks, chain stores, food, and grocery stores.

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.