Markets await September Fed rate cuts

S-Reits, which are rate-sensitive, likely biggest beneficiary locally of rate cuts

- Ven Sreenivasan

Market Watch Senior Columnist Equity markets ended the week on a high after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell gave his clearest indication yet that the "time has come" to soon begin reducing interest rates.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 62.3 points on Aug 23 to its second-highest close in six months as it ended the week 1.27 per cent higher at 41,175.08 points. The broader S&P 500 advanced 1.45 per cent for the week to 5,634.61 points, while the tech-loaded Nasdaq was up 1.4 per cent for the week at 17,877.79 points.

Most Asian markets were closed by the time Mr Powell made his remarks at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming on Aug 23.

In Singapore, the Straits Times Index (STI) continued in a tight trading range through the week, with a marginal bid tone that saw the index ending the week up 1.1 per cent at 3,387.99 points, with dividends distributions boosting the total return on the week to 1.3 per cent.

This brings the STI's total returns year to date to 9.6 per cent.

Index leaders for the week included Sats, which gained 12.6 per cent to $3.57, its highest level since October 2022. This came after the company swung back into the black for the first quarter of fiscal year 2025 with a net profit of $65 million, reversing a loss of $29.9 million a year earlier.

The results also came on the back of higher revenue.

Seatrium is also showing signs of stirring, with the stock rising 5.2 per cent to $1.48, but not before hitting a week-high at $1.52 on optimism that the company has turned the corner and is on the road to profitability.

The offshore and marine group posted underlying net profit of $115 million for the half year to end-June, thanks to strong execution and improving profit margins. This was a $379 million turnaround from losses in the year-ago period.