SINGAPORE – A record-setting session on Wall Street overnight, triggered by signals that interest rate cuts remain firmly on the agenda, lit a fire under regional bourses on March 21.

Investors here gleefully seized on talk that the United States Federal Reserve was committed to rate cuts in 2024 and put the market’s flattish performance in the past few days behind them.

The bubbly mood drove the Straits Times Index up a solid 1.4 per cent or 42.89 points to 3,220.37, with the banks leading the charge. DBS Bank surged 2 per cent to $35.66, OCBC Bank added 1.6 per cent to $13.64, and UOB put on a relatively modest 1 per cent to $29.22.

While the local lenders played their part, Olam Group also performed well, rising 3 per cent to $1.02 after one of its units launched an offer to acquire all remaining shares in Australian cotton processor Namoi Cotton for A$122 million (S$107.9 million).

Glove-maker Riverstone Holdings was another star, shooting up 5.9 per cent to 81 cents, after brokerage RHB upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral” because of the firm’s improving sales volumes and above-average margins.

Gainers easily trounced losers 390 to 202 across the broader market here on robust trade of 1.6 billion securities worth $1.5 billion.

Key regional bourses were firmly in the black as well. The Nikkei in Tokyo added 2 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.9 per cent and the Kospi in Seoul rose 2.4 per cent, while Australian stocks ended 1.1 per cent ahead, their second-highest close on record.

The source of the market euphoria was not hard to find after the three main indexes on Wall Street all closed at record highs, thanks to the Fed’s upbeat rate cut outlook.

The benchmark S&P 500 added 0.9 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average put on 1 per cent. The tech-focused Nasdaq was 1.3 per cent higher. THE BUSINESS TIMES