US stocks rallied Monday to start the week, with the Nasdaq surging 2.26% to a…

US stocks rallied Monday to start the week, with the Nasdaq surging 2.26% to a record 27,122.09, its first record close since June, while the S&P 500 gained 1.49% to 7,764.76 and the Dow added 0.71% to 52,049.72. This followed last week's third straight losing week for the Dow after the Fed's rate hike. Oil prices tumbled almost 4% as Saudi Arabia said it could restore about half of a damaged pipeline's capacity within days, and as hopes grew for renewed US-Iran diplomacy ahead of this week's UN General Assembly, where Trump signaled openness to meeting Iran's president. Markets were also encouraged by this week's planned Trump-Xi summit in Washington, covering tariffs and AI cooperation, after "successful" preliminary talks between US and Chinese officials over the weekend. Chip stocks led gains: AMD surged 8.8% to a record high in a broad risk-on rally, well ahead of peers Nvidia and Broadcom. Paramount Skydance jumped over 6% on reports of advanced settlement talks with California's attorney general that could clear a path for its Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

The PSEi slipped a further 0.21% (12.12 points) Monday to close at 5,843.79, its second straight losing session, as escalating Middle East tensions, including the Houthis' weekend attack on Saudi Arabia and an ongoing exchange of threats between the US and Iran, kept investors cautious. Elevated global oil prices, rising local Treasury yields, and the peso's continued weakness also weighed on sentiment, according to Philstocks Financial's Japhet Tantiangco. The peso weakened further to ₱62.78 against the US dollar, its second consecutive day of losses. Trading was thin, with turnover of just ₱5.61 billion, and foreign investors were net sellers of ₱860.88 million worth of shares. Conglomerates were the only sector to gain (+1.76%), while industrials fell hardest (-1.50%). Adding to inflation worries, oil giant Shell Pilipinas said it would raise diesel prices by as much as ₱7.80 per liter this week, with other pump price hikes expected as the Department of Energy implements its own mandated adjustments.

US markets rallied Monday as oil prices fell nearly 4% on hopes of eased Middle East supply disruptions and renewed US-Iran diplomacy, but the Philippines felt the flip side of the same story. The PSEi fell for a second straight session, as the same weekend escalation (the Houthis' attack on Saudi Arabia) that eventually eased Wall Street's oil-price fears instead kept Manila investors focused on the risk that oil could spike again, alongside a weakening peso and rising local bond yields. The clearest PH-specific fallout: Shell Pilipinas said diesel prices would jump by up to ₱7.80 a liter this week, with other retailers and the Department of Energy's own mandated adjustments still to come, a direct hit to transport, logistics, and consumer costs. Financials and industrials, sensitive to elevated local yields, led Monday's PSEi decliners. Worth watching: whether Wall Street's more optimistic read on the Middle East (a partial Saudi pipeline fix, possible US-Iran talks at the UN) proves out, which would help ease the same fuel-cost pressure now hitting Philippine pumps.