Stocks edged up on Thursday with a boost from falling market interest rates and from a renewal of the AI trade. The Dow Jones industrial average firmed 0.2 percent while the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq was also up 0.2 percent. US Treasury yields and the dollar declined while oil prices rose again.

Weak economic data, including another supportive inflation report and higher than expected jobless claims, sent bond yields down, which provided underlying support for stocks. Oracle led AI-linked stocks higher after boosting its revenue guidance due to rising cloud services/AI business. Other technology winners included Nvidia and other chipmakers plus Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Boeing dropped to weigh on aerospace stocks after its aircraft crashed in India.

Energy shares had another big day as oil prices remained elevated amid concern over renewed conflict between Israel and Iran over the latter's nuclear aspirations.

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.