The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, edition that investors are closely watching economic data in the coming months to see if the "soft landing" narrative supporting U.S. stocks in 2024 can continue, with interest rate cuts on the horizon. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the "time has come" to begin lowering interest rates -- a more dovish message than many investors had believed they would hear at the central bank's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. That process will likely begin next month, with a 25-basis-point cut at the Fed's monetary-policy meeting on Sept. 17 to Sept. 18. The comments are far from an all-clear signal. With the S&P 500 up 18 per cent on the year and equities richly valued, market participants will need to see continued evidence that the economy is gliding to a soft landing, where growth remains resilient while inflation cools. History shows that stocks tend to perform far better when rate cuts come against a background of resilient growth instead of during a sharp economic slowdown. Since 1970, the S&P 500 has climbed an average of 18 per cent one year after the first rate cut in non-recessionary periods.