February 2024 Economic & Market Highlights

The stock market, particularly the S&P 500 Index, continued its upward trend, driven largely by major tech companies.
Small cap stock outperformance implied a slight broadening from the concentrated performance experienced since 2023. However, large caps still lead on a year-to-date basis.
The Federal Reserve maintained its policy rate in the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, reflecting ongoing concerns about inflation not yet stabilizing towards the Fed's 2% target.
The bond market experienced notable uncertainty, with upward pressure in U.S. Treasury yields due to mixed expectations about the Federal Reserve's rate cut timeline following strong labor market data.
Geopolitical tensions, especially in the Middle East, have increased, but so far, they have not significantly impacted the markets. The spread of fighting in the region could potentially disrupt global energy supplies.

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Source: Morningstar -All performance is percentage change of total return

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