Investors have faced challenges over the past year as the economy has been plagued by geopolitical tensions, high inflation, and the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes. The Fed has increased the benchmark interest rate eight times since last year, with the most recent being a quarter of a percentage point hike last week.
The aggressive rate hikes have helped bring inflation down as December’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data signaled an easing of inflation for the sixth consecutive month, as CPI rose 6.5% year-over-year and declined 0.1% sequentially.
