Stocks slipped Wednesday in a mild risk-off move fueled by renewed US-China trade worries and disappointing quarterly results. The Dow Jones industrial average declined by 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 lost 0.5 percent and Nasdaq dropped by 0.9 percent. US Treasury yields and the dollar fell while oil prices rose.

The market reacted badly to a Reuters report saying the Trump administration was considering a plan to limit a wide array of US exports to China that are made with US software or that contain US software. The report suggested the administration is ready to escalate the trade dispute dramatically in response to China's rare earth export restrictions.

High-profile bad news on the earnings front added to the day's bearish tone, in particular disappointing results from Netflix and Texas Instruments, and underwhelming results for AI favorites Vertiv and GE Vernova, which faced extraordinarily high expectations. On the positive side, Thermo Fisher ticked up and Intuitive Surgical rallied on strong results.

Among sectors, worst were chipmakers, industrial metals, airlines, big banks, telecom, managed care, and biotech. Holding up best were paper/packaging, energy, consumer staples, rails, hotels, and health & personal care.

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.