SHARES slumped on Wednesday, tracking Wall Street’s decline, following faster-than-expected US consumer inThe Philippine Stock Exchange index went down by 118.95 points or 1.77% to close at 6,582.86 on Wednesday, while the broader all shares index dropped by 45.62 points or 1.28% to 3,497.21.
Ms. Alviar said the faster-than-expected inflation report may result in a hawkish move from the Fed at its Sept. 20-21 meeting, which may cause the dollar to strengthen and could prompt other central banks, including the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, to also act aggressively to stem their currencies’ decline.
The US consumer price index unexpectedly rose in August amid rising rent and healthcare costs, strengthening the case for another aggressive Fed rate hike.ation edged up by 0.1% to 8.3% last month after being unchanged in July. In the 12 months through August, the CPI increased to 8.3%. All three major US stock indexes ended sharply lower following the inflation report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 1,276.37 points or 3.94% to 31,104.97; the S&P 500 lost 177.72 points or 4.32%, to 3,932.69; and the Nasdaq Composite dropped by 632.84 points or 5.16% to close at 11,633.57.