Equities shook off early weakness to end marginally better in quiet trading Tuesday with megacaps and chip stocks seeing a modest bounce after lagging Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average was flat while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both firmed 0.2 percent. Bond yields were mixed with long yields higher and the shorter yields lower. The dollar rose while oil prices dropped.

An uptick in Apple on news of a chief financial officer appointment helped technology stocks to outperform. Nvidia and chipmakers saw rebound interest after lagging Monday ahead of the former's quarterly report due after the close on Wednesday. Other leading sectors included financials, real estate and consumer staples. Lagging were energy, utilities, materials, consumer discretionary and communications services.

Consumer confidence figures topped expectations but the market appeared to focus on rising consumer gloom about the outlook for jobs and prospects for slowing consumption to follow.

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.