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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., October 27, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo   US500 +0.59% Add to/Remove from Watchlist Add to Watchlist Add Position Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio Type: BUY SELL Date:   Amount: Price Point Value: Leverage: 1:1 1:10 1:25 1:50 1:100 1:200 1:400 1:500 1:1000 Commission:   Create New Watchlist Create Create a new holdings portfolio Add Create + Add another position Close LPLA -0.14% Add to/Remove from Watchlist Add to Watchlist Add Position Position added successfully to:

Please name your holdings portfolio Type: BUY SELL Date:   Amount: Price Point Value: Leverage: 1:1 1:10 1:25 1:50 1:100 1:200 1:400 1:500 1:1000 Commission:   Create New Watchlist Create Create a new holdings portfolio Add Create + Add another position Close NEW YORK(Reuters) – The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at its highest level of the year on Friday amid growing optimism the Federal Reserve was done raising U.S. interest rates and could begin to cut them next year as inflation cools.

The index closed at 4,594.63 points, up 26.83 points, or 0.59%, and topping the close on July 31 at 4,588.96, which had been the prior high of 2023.

U.S. stocks rebounded in November following three straight months of declines on better-than-expected earnings and as evidence of easing inflation boosted bets that the Fed was at the end of its monetary tightening campaign.

On Friday the benchmark S&P 500 got another boost when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell vowed to move “carefully” on interest rates, describing the risks of going too far with tightening as “more balanced” with risks of not controlling inflation.

“Markets view today’s comments as inching toward the dovish camp,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) in Charlotte, North Carolina, in an email. “A few weeks ago, Powell said policy is restrictive but today, he believes policy is ‘well into restrictive territory.’ I think it’s fair for markets to latch on to that subtlety.”