The stock market has endured a challenging year due to various macroeconomic and geopolitical concerns. The Fed’s resolve to bring inflation down to its 2% target led to a broad-based market correction. The central bank’s aggressive interest rate hikes have triggered sell-offs across major asset classes and have led many analysts to believe that the economy will enter a recession next year.
The Fed’s six rate hikes finally seem to bear fruit as inflation eased in October. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% sequentially and 7.7% year-over-year last month, both coming lower than analyst estimates. The recently released minutes from the Fed’s policy meeting showed signs that the central bank might slow down the pace of rate hikes.
