Stocks turned up Thursday afternoon with blue chip stocks leading as short interest rates declined after President Trump called on the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 percent and the Nasdaq firmed 0.2 percent. Longer US bond yields rose while short yields declined, oil prices dropped, and the dollar was mixed.

Trump's call on the Fed to cut rates along with weaker than expected US jobless claims in the latest week pushed short rates lower. That fueled buying in stocks including Goldman Sachs, United Health, and Caterpillar which led to more buying in other stocks, with Amazon, Microsoft and Nvidia rebounding from losses to trade higher.

Among sectors, best were industrials, financials, energy, communications services and health 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.