The S&P 500 closed higher Wednesday as the minutes of the US Federal Reserve's July meeting strengthened expectations for a rate cut next month, overriding concerns about the economy following softer labor market data. Minutes from the latest US Fed policy meeting showed several officials acknowledged a conceivable case for cutting rates, before the central bank voted to keep them steady. Chair Jerome Powell will have a chance to offer investors further clarity when he speaks in the Jackson Hole economic symposium on Friday. BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda will face intense market scrutiny on Friday when he speaks to lawmakers, after the central bank’s rate hike and hawkish signals contributed to the global market turmoil earlier this month. Stocks in Asia edged higher on Thursday ahead of key events from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan that will help outline the global rates trajectory. Reliance Industries (RIL) plans to invest more than Rs 1,000 crore to enhance production from its coal bed methane (CBM) blocks in Madhya Pradesh Coal India actively pursuing the acquisition of critical minerals in India Aarti Drugs to consider buyback of equity shares on Aug 26 Transport Corporation of India to consider buyback of equity shares on Aug 24 Nifty rose for the fifth consecutive session on August 21 to close at 24770 with a gain of 71 points or 0.29%. Short term trend remains bullish for the Nifty and existing longs can be held with the stop loss of 24500 levels. On the higher side 24950-25078 is likely to act as a resistance.