Stocks rose Wednesday with the Nasdaq reaching a new high and outperforming amid new record highs for Nvidia. Markets downplayed President Trump's latest tariff threats and focused instead on lower bond yields. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.5 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq was up 0.9 percent. US Treasury yields fell, the dollar was mixed, and oil prices eased.

The market didn't react to news that President Trump sent letters to seven more countries informing them of new higher reciprocal tariffs. Investors appear to be betting he will not implement his threats. Lower bond yields gave markets a lift as demand in the latest US Treasury 10-year note auction topped expectations after yields backed up for five straight days. The latest Federal Open Market Committee minutes contained no surprises and didn't move the market.

Copper prices fell back after rising sharply on Tuesday on the president's threat to impose a 50 percent tariff on copper imports.

Along with Nvidia, other megacaps outperformed Wednesday, including Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Netflix. Among sectors, best were communications, technology, consumer discretionary, industrials and utilities. Lagging were energy 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.