The bulls continued to charge last week on Wall Street. The bellwether S&P 500 index rose 1.28%, posting the fifth consecutive weekly rise. This is despite the markets having pulled back Federal Reserve rate cut expectations to 100 basis points (bps) for 2024. That's down from the 150 bps in reductions traders expected in mid-January. The U.S. dollar idled against its major counterparts. Gold prices edged cautiously lower but stayed well within the narrow range containing them for over two months. Treasury yields moved higher as bonds pulled back across maturities. Crude oil prices retraced most of last week’s ... (full story)