The year 2023 was impressive for Wall Street. Heading into 2024, some bottlenecks, including geopolitical upheavals and stretched valuations, raised doubts about whether the rally will endure. However, major bourses shrugged off all these apprehensions and notched record highs. Dow Jones Market Data stated that the S&P 500 is on pace to register its best performance in the first half of an election year since 1976. The broader index has shot up 11.3% this year. Similarly, the Nasdaq has soared 11.8% this year as the tech juggernaut rolls on. The 30-stock Dow has also traded in the green, advancing 3.5% year to date. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Interest rate cut optimism amid easing inflation helped the stock market scale northward this year. Consumer price pressures loosened their grip on the economy, with the consumer price index remaining flat in May. Last month, the CPI may have increased by 3.3% from a year earlier, but it is less than April's rise of 3.4% and much less than the pandemic-era peak of 9.1% in 2022. Additionally, producer prices fell month over month in May, a tell-tale sign that inflation is receding. This means that the Federal Reserve will remain less hawkish, and is now widely expected to trim interest rates as early as ...