Stock indices ended with modest gains Wednesday after see-sawing throughout the session as investors adjusted positions ahead of the anxiously awaited after-hours release of the quarterly results of Nvidia, the key chip supplier to the AI boom with a market capitalization of $4.4 trillion, roughly 8 percent of the S&P 500. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.3 percent while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each gained 0.2 percent.

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.