Another strong showing for big technology shares underpinned equities Wednesday while bond yields slipped after weaker than expected economic reports. The Dow Jones industrial average eased by 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq advanced by 0.9 percent. Bond yields declined while the dollar and oil prices rose.

Softer than expected showings from the ADP employment report, jobless claims, and the service purchasing managers report helped bond yields to unwind most of their gains of earlier in the week. That bolstered risk appetite but activity was limited ahead of Thursday's holiday and employment figures due on Friday.

Among techs, Nvidia and Tesla led the winners. Best sectors were transports, chipmakers, machinery, chain stores, auto suppliers, casinos, media and industrial metals. Lagging were grocery stores, banks, credit cards, insurance, drug stores, managed care, pharma, and health & personal care.

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.