Equities ended narrowly mixed in quiet range-trading Wednesday with no big macro news drivers. Stocks managed to recover from the morning lows to end near the day's best levels. The Dow rose 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq eased 0.1 percent.

US Treasury yields and the dollar rose while oil prices declined. Results were disappointing in the day's US Treasury 20-year bond sale with the high yield accepted in the auction an unusual three basis points above where the bond traded at auction time.

Lots of comments from Federal Reserve officials largely repeated Fed Chair Jerome Powell's cautious and noncommittal stance on more rate cuts, something of a downer for equities. Investors were awaiting an update from Nvidia, the tech bellwether, after the close, and they awaited news on antitrust action involving Alphabet. Big technology leaders were mostly weaker to weigh on the major averages.

Among the day's movers, Target dropped after disappointing quarterly results. Among sectors, health care, industrials, materials, and energy were relatively strong while lagging were information technology, consumer discretionary and consumer staples.

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.