Stocks held slim ranges on Monday as the market braced for the start of earnings season and upcoming economic reports. As of 2:20 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 firmed 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq was up 0.3 percent. US Treasury yields and the dollar were flat to higher while oil prices dropped.

President Trump's latest trade threats were largely shrugged off as posturing ahead of his latest Aug. 1 deadline. That included his threat to raise Mexico and EU tariffs to 30 percent. More compelling for investors was expected earnings from big banks due Tuesday and consumer price figures also due on Tuesday. Expectations for CPI look for an increase of 0.3 percent on the month and 2.6 percent on the year in June, up slightly from May but not yet showing much impact from import tariffs.

Among sectors, best performers included real estate, communications services, consumer discretionary and financials. Lagging were energy, materials, consumer staples, and information technology.

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.