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The economic data released during the past week served as a stark reminder to investors the path to get core inflation down to the Federal Reserve 2% policy objective will be non-linear and challenging in 2024.

In a light week for economic releases, investor sentiment was dominated by Federal Reserve speakers. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated in a 60 Minutes TV interview that the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) wants to see more progress on inflation before cutting rates and downplayed chances for the first rate cut in March.

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover report on Tuesday showed an unexpected rise in job openings in December, from an upwardly revised 8.9 million in November to 9.0 million representing a healthy ratio of around 1.5 jobs for every unemployed individual.