Equities edged down Monday in quiet trading as big momentum stocks that have powered the market higher gave back some of their huge gains. The Dow Jones industrial average firmed 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent, and the Nasdaq slipped by 0.4 percent. US Treasury yields and oil prices rose while the dollar declined.

Among the day's big decliners were Meta, Nvidia, and Sun Micro Computer as the big technology shares that have led the way higher cooled off for the moment. Nvidia attracted special attention after the stock reversed Friday from being up 5 percent to close down about 5 percent.

Investors appeared ready to pare risk heading into the week's key inflation and retail sales reports, with the view that lots of goods news on rate cuts and economic performance is already baked into the market. Expectations for the consumer price index report due Tuesday call for a month-to-month rise of 0.4 percent with core CPI up 0.3 percent.

Among sectors, best were financials, consumer staples, utilities, energy and materials. Lagging were industrials, real estate, consumer discretionary, 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.