Stocks recovered a bit on Thursday after Wednesday's dip with buyers inspired by favorable earnings and news that the meeting is on next week between President Trump and President Xi of China. The Dow Jones industrial average firmed 0.3 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and Nasdaq rose by 0.9 percent. US Treasury yields rose, the dollar fell, and oil prices surged.

On the trade front, the White House's announcement that Trump and Xi will meet next week in South Korea reassured investors who worried that the on-again, off-again meeting would not occur after Trump's threat to call it off. The meeting is expected to facilitate some cooling in the trade war that has consumed financial markets.

Megacaps including Amazon, Nvidia, and Oracle, advanced to lead stocks higher. Honeywell and American Airlines, old line stocks, had good days after favorable quarterly results. Energy stocks advanced as oil prices rallied after President Trump announced more sanctions on buyers of Russian oil.

Markets are awaiting Friday's delayed US consumer price report in hopes that it will show inflation well behaved enough to allow the Federal Reserve to proceed with expected rate cuts in October and December.

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.