US stocks fell for a second straight day on Wednesday, September 9, as oil…

US stocks fell for a second straight day on Wednesday, September 9, as oil prices spiked. Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, jumped past $100 a barrel for the first time since July after renewed fighting between the US and Iran raised fears that Middle East oil supplies could be disrupted. Investors worried pricier oil could reignite inflation and delay rate cuts from the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.77% to 52,380.66, the S&P 500 lost 0.48% to 7,636.36, and the Nasdaq dropped 0.64% to 26,253.34. Bond yields also climbed, with the 10-year Treasury yield touching its highest level in three years after the US Treasury Department announced plans to buy back government debt. One stock bucked the trend: Meta Platforms surged after launching Muse, a new AI assistant that can book travel and send emails on a user's behalf. The gains in tech's AI leaders weren't enough to offset the drag from oil and rates on the rest of the market.

Philippine stocks rose for a second straight session on Wednesday, September 9, as investors kept buying shares that had gotten cheap during recent declines, a pattern traders call "bargain hunting." The PSEi, the benchmark index tracking the Philippines' 30 largest listed companies, gained 0.17%, or 10.54 points, to close at 6,116.53. Foreign investors were net buyers, adding about ₱219 million. The peso also got relief, strengthening to ₱62.513 against the US dollar after hitting a record low of ₱62.625 the day before. Still, analysts called the mood cautious: more stocks fell than rose, and trading volume stayed thin. This comes weeks after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the country's central bank, raised its key interest rate to 5% in late August, its third straight hike, to keep inflation in check as the peso weakened and oil prices climbed. Higher interest rates make borrowing pricier, which can slow spending, so investors are watching for signs the central bank might pause.

Wednesday's US oil spike and bond-market jitters connect directly to the Philippines. Brent crude near $100 a barrel raises costs for Philippine importers of fuel and raw materials, since the country buys nearly all its oil from abroad using US dollars. That's part of why the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has been hiking interest rates, trying to keep those cost pressures from turning into runaway inflation. Rising US Treasury yields matter too: when American bonds pay more, global investors often pull money out of emerging markets like the Philippines and into safer, higher-yielding US assets. That flow helps explain why the peso has been sliding toward record lows this year, even though it caught a brief break on Wednesday. A weaker peso is a mixed bag for Filipinos: it makes imported goods and fuel pricier, but it's good news for the roughly 10% of the economy that comes from overseas Filipino workers' remittances, and for outsourcing companies, since dollars sent home stretch further once converted to pesos. For now, the PSEi's gains show local investors are still buying on dips, even as the peso and oil prices remain wildcards.