Light week ahead in Asia with eyes on US data

WALL Street stocks hit record highs on Friday to clinch their longest bull-market run, as investors digested words by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole summit affirming the central bank's current pace of rate hikes.

The S&P 500 finished 0.6 per cent higher at 2,874.69, just ahead of its previous record close of 2,872.87 in January. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also added 133.37 points, or 0.5 per cent to 25,790.35, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 67.52 points, or 0.9 per cent to 7,945.98. For the week, the Dow added 0.5 per cent, the S&P gained 0.9 per cent, and the Nasdaq increased 1.7 per cent.

Overall, market strategists agree that Mr Powell's speech came with no major surprises as he reiterated things he had said before - that the economy is strong, but there does not seem to be a risk of overheating, and that the Fed's gradual rate hike policy remains appropriate. Key risks he cited included slow wage growth and rising government deficits.