Stocks seesawed around unchanged Tuesday to end almost flat and the day's lows with markets waiting for interest rate news from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq rose 0.1 percent. US Treasury yields rose, the dollar was mixed against major currencies, and oil prices fell.

A 25 basis point rate cut is baked into market expectations and investors are focusing on what they glean from Fed statements and projections about what comes next year for the Fed. Market sentiment has been restrained lately by the view that most voting members of the Fed policy board next year will not be inclined to cut rates no matter how much President Trump's new chair presses for rate cuts.

Another day of rising bond yields was a headwind for stocks, with the bond market hurt by stronger than expected US economic reports. First, a small business sentiment report came in above expectations. Second, ADP employment showed an uptick in jobs in the latest week after three weeks of declines. Third, the JOLTS job openings report showed much stronger figures for September and October.

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.