Stocks corrected some of their recent gains on Wednesday with cyclicals that gained the most lately seeing profit-taking. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 0.2 percent. US Treasury yields declined, the dollar rose, and oil prices fell.

Sectors that have been rising the most lately were the day's laggards including financials, energy, chips, machinery, apparel and homebuilders while big technology shares were split. Holding up best were shipping, pharma and software shares.

Economic reports came in mixed and left rate expectations pretty much unchanged. Most notable was an unexpected uptick in the services index from purchasing managers to its best level of the year. On the downside were ADP employment figures and JOLTS job openings below expectations and pointing to a sluggish job market.

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.