The headwinds from the aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve to tame the multi-decade high inflation, supply disruptions arising out of the continuing Ukraine-Russia war, rising energy and commodity prices, and the possibility of a recession ignited fears among investors, leading to the stock market ending the last year in a downbeat tone.
The benchmark indices witnessed their steepest annual losses last year since 2008, following the Fed’s fastest pace of rate hikes since the 1980s. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 8.8%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 19.4% and 33.1%, respectively.
