Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, September 8 (the most recently completed…

Wall Street closed lower on Tuesday, September 8 (the most recently completed US trading session, since Monday was the Labor Day holiday). The Dow Jones Industrial Average, an index that tracks 30 large US companies, dropped 628 points, or 1.18%, to 52,786.07. The S&P 500 (a broader index of 500 big US companies) fell 0.58% to 7,673.52, while the Nasdaq, which leans heavily on tech stocks, slipped 0.32% to 26,421.41. The main drag was oil, which climbed toward $100 a barrel as tensions between the US and Iran flared up again, plus new retaliatory tariffs (extra taxes on imported goods) that Canada slapped on US products after trade talks broke down. Investors are also bracing for this Fed the US central bank that sets interest rates might raise rates again soon, after last week's stronger-than-expected jobs report. One bright spot: semiconductor (computer chip) stocks bucked the downtrend, riding continued excitement over AI infrastructure spending.

Local stocks bounced back on Tuesday, September 8 (the most recently completed PSE session). The PSEi, the benchmark index that tracks the Philippine Stock Exchange's 30 biggest companies, rose 0.37%, or 22.31 points, to close at 6,105.99, as bargain hunters bought shares that had gotten cheaper the day before. Most of the lift came from one stock: International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI), a Philippine port operator that does business worldwide, which was both the most actively traded stock and the index's top gainer for the day. Foreign investors were modest net buyers, but more stocks fell than rose overall, and trading volume stayed thin, a sign that caution, not confidence, still dominates the mood. Meanwhile, the Philippine peso sank to a fresh record low of P62.625 against the US dollar, pressured by rising oil prices and growing bets that the US Fed will raise interest rates again soon.

Here's the thread connecting Tuesday in New York to Tuesday in Manila: US jobs data came in stronger than expected last week, which makes it more likely the Fed will raise interest rates again soon. Higher US rates tend to pull global money toward the dollar and away from other currencies, which is a big reason the peso just hit another all-time low against the dollar. A weaker peso cuts both ways for Filipinos: it makes imported goods (including oil, which the Philippines buys almost entirely from abroad) more expensive, adding to inflation worries, but it also means every US dollar sent home by an OFW, or earned by a dollar-billing company, converts into more pesos. That second effect is part of why ICTSI, a Philippine company that earns much of its revenue overseas in dollars, has kept climbing even as the broader local market struggles, a weaker peso quietly works in its favor while it weighs on everyday consumers.