Stocks seesawed to end slightly better Wednesday amid cautious optimism on trade talks. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 firmed 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.3 percent. Bond yields and oil prices declined while the dollar rose.

Stocks saw a modest bid Wednesday on news overnight that US and Chinese officials would meet this weekend to talk trade, but equities reacted badly to President Trump's comment that he was not inclined to pull back on China tariffs and Treasury Secretary Bessent's comment appearing to downplay expectations for progress on trade with China.

The Federal Reserve's policy announcement initially gave US Treasuries a lift as traders saw it as somewhat dovish, but the reaction faded as comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell made clear the Fed is as uncertain about the outlook as market participants, and not ready to consider any preemptive easing to boost the economy in the face of the tariff shock.

Technology shares were mostly better but Google was a notable decliner on a report that Apple was considering adding AI search functionality to its default Safari browser. Among sectors, best performers included banks, homebuilders, chipmakers, airlines, apparel, and entertainment. Lagging were chemicals, metals, food, cosmetics and apparel.

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.