Stocks held steady ahead of tomorrow's consumer price index where no better than mixed results are expected. Small business sentiment remains moribund according to the NFIB survey, frozen by high inflation and the more distant prospect of Federal Reserve rate cuts. The US 2-year Treasury yield eased back to 4.74 percent as did the 10-year to 4.36 percent after two sessions of sharp gains. The coupon on the 3-year Treasury came in at 4.50 percent for the highest interest rate since October. The Dow ended fractionally lower in Tuesday's session while the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent. Company news was light.

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.