Stocks sagged Tuesday to give back Monday's gains after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both touched intra-day record highs and megacaps and big technology shares saw profit-taking. Concern appeared to grow over the ongoing federal government shutdown, which gave traders an impetus to pull back on risk positions.

The Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.2 percent, the S&P 500 dipped by 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq was down 0.7 percent. US Treasury yields fell as investors shifted into Treasuries in a mild risk-off move. The dollar and oil prices rose. Defensive plays including consumer staples and utilities held up best as safer havens.

President Trump's threat not to pay furloughed federal employees back pay appeared to ratchet up the tension level around the shutdown.

Tesla was the day's featured loser to weigh on consumer discretionary shares after the market was underwhelmed by the rollout of its latest vehicle. Oracle fell back to depress tech shares after a report raising concerns over its chip plans with Nvidia.

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.