Alphabet and Meta both reported higher capital expenditure plans this week, but markets reacted in opposite directions. Alphabet shares rose roughly 5% while Meta dropped about 10%, a split that reveals how closely investors are watching the returns each company is generating on its AI spending. Capex, capital expenditure, refers to money spent on physical infrastructure like data centers and chips, typically to support AI workloads. For Alphabet, investors appeared reassured that its core search and cloud businesses are growing fast enough to justify the spending. Meta's heavier spend, by contrast, raised concern that costs are scaling faster than near-term revenue can absorb. The divergence matters across the tech sector because both companies are among the largest buyers of AI infrastructure globally. Watch whether other hyperscalers like Microsoft and Amazon face similar investor scrutiny when they report, and whether either company revises guidance on the pace or payoff of its AI buildout.
Indian startups raised $5.2 billion across 501 deals in H1 2026, down 9% in value but up 7% in deal count year-on-year, per the Inc42 Indian Tech Startup Funding Report. The drop is driven by fewer mega-rounds, while AI funding surged 317% and growth-stage deal activity hit a multi-year high.
The BSE Sensex fell 893 points and the Nifty 50 shed 279 points on June 30, 2026, wiping out roughly Rs 6 lakh crore in investor wealth in a single session. Both indices dropped 1.16%, closing at 76,200.68 and 23,824.10 respectively.
Kotak Mahindra Bank shares fell nearly 3% to Rs 397.6 after CEO Ashok Vaswani announced plans to exit the bank. Investor concern now centres on succession timing and whether the bank's ongoing digital and deposit-growth strategy will stay on track.
South Korea's Kospi dropped 3% at Monday's open while Japan's Nikkei fell 1%, as escalating US-Iran conflict triggered a broad risk-off move across Asian markets. South Korea's heavy reliance on Middle East oil imports makes it especially vulnerable to geopolitical shocks of this kind.
