Equities seesawed around unchanged to end narrowly mixed Tuesday but leaned negative in choppy trading. The Dow Jones industrial average firmed 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent, its third straight decline, while the Nasdaq lost 0.1 percent. US Treasury yields rose while oil prices and the dollar declined.

Stocks held up relatively well in the face of rising bond yields. The market is down about 4 percent this month as it reprices its expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts into much later in the year.

The market didn't react much but it didn't help when Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that recent figures show lack of progress this year in returning to the 2 percent inflation target.

In company news, a strong showing for United Healthcare after its quarterly earnings report helped the Dow outperform. On the downside, Apple and Tesla both had bad days to weigh on the major averages.

Among sectors, best were information technology, health care and consumer staples. Lagging were materials, consumer discretionary, energy and real estate.

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.