Smiles all round as financial markets end 2023 on an unexpected high

News Snapshot:

Global financial markets confounded gloomy expectations in 2023. Stocks rallied, and bonds reversed heavy losses made early in the year as recession fears were replaced by growing confidence that US policymakers would achieve an economic soft landing. Many major share indices recorded double-digit gains during the year, helped by a strong rally in November and December as falling inflation made traders more hopeful of an interest rate cut in 2024. Britain’s FTSE 100 lagged behind the global rally, though, gaining less than 4% in 2023. At the start of the year, many investors were expecting corporate earnings to decline as...