Stocks ended slightly weaker Wednesday as markets gave back some of the week's good gains in cautious trading ahead of highly-awaited results from Nvidia. The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 both declined 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq eased by 0.5 percent. Long-dated US Treasury yields, the dollar and oil prices all gained.

Equities faced limited consolidative selling pressure and a headwind from rising yields but trading was limited as so much attention is focused on the Nvdia results due after the close. Minutes from the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting contained no revelations as members fretted over uncertainty flowing from tariffs.

Among sectors, information technology and communications services held up relatively well. Lagging were health care, consumer discretionary, energy, financials, materials, real estate and utilities.

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.