US leveraged loans closed 2023 on a high note, literally, as views that the Fed was done with rate hikes and that there might indeed be an economic soft landing sparked rallies across risk markets. Leveraged loan prices surged, pushing the weighted average bid of the Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index to the highest reading all year, at 96.23 on Dec. 31.  Marina Lukatsky of Pitchbook| LCD wrote this.