Equities gave back early gains to end mostly weaker Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 slipped 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.6 percent. Bond yields and oil prices rose while the dollar declined.

Stocks perked up at the open after much better than expected ADP employment figures, a robust gross domestic product report featuring better than expected consumer spending, and a remarkable surge in pending home sales. Upbeat results from Alphabet, regarded as a bellwether for digital economy stocks, also gave the market an early lift. The gains came despite rising bond yields but initial buying interest faded.

Chipmakers struggled from the start and added to their losses as the day went after a disappointing update from Advanced Micro Devices. Industrials lagged after gloomy results from Caterpillar weighed on the sector. Eli Lilly's quarterly update featured a big earnings miss to dampen pharma shares. On the positive side, restaurant chains had a good day on upbeat results from Shake Shack and Brinker.

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.