Brent crude climbed past $126 a barrel early Thursday, its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, while U.S. gasoline prices rose to $4.30 a gallon. The moves reflect intense pressure on global oil supply at a time when demand has been recovering steadily from pandemic lows. When Brent crude rises sharply, it pulls up the cost of almost everything that moves or is made using energy, fuel, freight, fertilizer, plastics, and food. Higher U.S. pump prices hit consumer spending directly, since households have less money left for other goods and services. For markets, sustained oil at these levels raises inflation expectations and puts pressure on central banks to tighten policy faster than planned. The key question now is whether major producers can or will step up output quickly enough to cool prices, and whether demand destruction, consumers cutting back because fuel is too expensive, kicks in before supply catches up.
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.
