S&P 500 Posts Weekly Climb as Fed Chair Says 'Time Has Come' for Rate Cuts

04:41 PM EDT, 08/23/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 1.4% this week, boosted by a Friday rally as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said "the time has come" for rate cuts.

The S&P 500 ended Friday's session at 5,634.61. The market benchmark is now up 2% in August and 18% this year.

Much of the week's climb came on Friday amid excitement over Powell's comments, which were given at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. Investors had already been hoping for Fed officials to start cutting rates at their September policy meeting; they see Powell's latest comments as making those hopes a significant step closer to reality.

All but one of the S&P 500's sectors rose on a weekly basis, led by a 3.6% rise in real estate, a 2.3% climb in materials and a 2.1% increase in consumer discretionary. Industrials, health care, consumer staples, financials, utilities, communication services and technology also all rose by more than 1% each.

The real estate sector's gainers included shares of Public Storage (PSA), up 6.7%, and Extra Space Storage (EXR), up 6.5%. Both stocks received price target increases from analysts at Barclays this week.

In the materials sector, shares of Newmont (NEM) rose 3.6% as Scotiabank upgraded its investment rating on the stock to sector outperform from sector perform. Scotiabank also raised its price target on Newmont's shares to $59 each from $48.

Energy was the lone sector in the red, shedding 0.5% on the week as crude oil futures also slipped on a weekly basis. Decliners in the sector included shares of APA Corp. (APA), down 2.7%, amid a report that the company is exploring a sale of oil and gas drilling properties across the Permian basin in Texas and New Mexico for about $1 billion. The report, by Reuters, cited unnamed people familiar with the matter.

The final week of August will feature the second revision to Q2 gross domestic product on Thursday, followed by the July personal consumption expenditures index on Friday. Other data scheduled to be released next week include July durable goods orders on Monday, August consumer confidence on Tuesday, July pending home sales on Thursday and August consumer sentiment on Friday.