Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced via X that passage through the Strait of Hormuz is fully open to commercial vessels for the duration of the current ceasefire period. The declaration triggered an immediate market response: oil prices fell sharply while equities rallied. The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most critical oil transit chokepoint, handling roughly one-fifth of global petroleum flows; any credible threat to its closure drives a risk premium into energy prices. Araghchi's explicit declaration removes, at least temporarily, that premium, allowing traders to reprice crude lower. The ceasefire framing is the key variable to watch. The opening is conditional on the ceasefire holding, meaning any breakdown in the underlying geopolitical conflict would reinstate supply-disruption fears and reverse the oil selloff. Equity markets are reading the development as a near-term de-escalation signal, but the conditional language leaves the trade exposed to event risk.
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.
