The market has faced multiple headwinds over the past year, with persistent inflation and the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes. The Fed’s aggressive stance has helped cool the runaway inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for December rose 6.5% year-over-year and declined 0.1% sequentially.
Recently, the Federal Reserve raised the short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, bringing the benchmark rate to a new range of 4.5% and 4.75%, the highest level since October 2007.
