Stocks softened on Friday, the last trading day of 2023, capping a robust year-end rally as investors eyed easier monetary policy in the year ahead. The stock market has seen remarkable upward momentum in the closing months of the year, setting all three major indexes on course for monthly, quarterly and annual gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 54 points, or 0.1%, to 37,655, the Nasdaq fell 0.5% and the S&P 500 was down 0.3%. For the year, all three are set to post double-digit growth. “On January of this year, 363 days ago, if I said I think the S&P is going to gain more than 20% in 2023, you would have put me into…
