** S&P 500 Energy index .SPNY rises 1.5%, tracking Wall Street gains on interest-rate cut hopes

** U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pointed to a possible rate cut at the central bank's next policy meeting in his remarks at the Jackson Hole Symposium

** Lower interest rates can stimulate economic growth and increase oil demand

** Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 0.30% at $67.86/bbl, while West Texas Intermediate $(WTI)$ crude futures CLc1 climbed 0.40% to $63.76/bbl O/R

** Energy majors Chevron CVX.N and Exxon Mobil XOM.N rise 1.1% and 1.2% respectively

** SLB SLB.N, Halliburton HAL.N, APA Corp APA.O, Occidental Petroleum OXY.N and Devon energy DVN.N rise between 2.9% and 4.4%; among the top percentage gainers on the energy index

** Oilfield services company Baker Hughes BKR.O up 2.4%

** Refiners Phillips 66 PSX.N up 2.2% and HF Sinclair DINO.N up 2.4%

(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru)

((Sumit.Saha@thomsonreuters.com;))