Equities recovered from initial steep losses to end higher Wednesday with Nvidia leading a rally in technology shares. The Dow Jones industrial average firmed 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 rose 1.1 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 2.2 percent. Bond yields, the dollar and oil prices all rose.

Positive commentary at Nvidia's presentation at an investor conference gave the chipmaker and the AI trade a lift and helped big tech stocks boost the major indexes.

Stocks weakened initially after a somewhat higher than expected reading on core consumer prices undercut expectations for a 50 basis point rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week. That left the market pricing in 25 basis points with bigger rate cuts expected later in the year. Vice President Kamala Harris's strong showing in Tuesday's presidential debate was another negative in the early going as Harris is perceived as less business-friendly than former President Trump.

Worries about slowing growth remain in focus after last week's employment report and given ongoing poor Chinese economic results. Growth worries undercut cyclicals/value shares Wednesday while growth and momentum stocks outperformed.

Among sectors, best were chipmakers and chipmaking capital equipment, software, technology hardware, plus health care, pharma, industrial metals, cruise lines, solar, and multiline industrials. Lagging were banks, asset managers, airlines, road & rail, health & personal care, food, and grocery stores.

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.