US stocks are subdued on the final trading day of an upbeat year while the benchmark S&P 500 is hovering around its all-time high on growing expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year. The S&P is within a whisker of its all-time closing high reached in January 2022. If it ends above that level, it would confirm the index entered a bull market after it hit the bear market closing trough in October 2022. The three main indexes were on track for both monthly and quarterly advances as well as double-digit gains in 2023. They also eyed their ninth straight weekly gain, with the S&P set for its longest…
