Brent crude for July closed above $111 a barrel and US benchmark West Texas Intermediate traded near $106, locking in a roughly 12% gain for the week. That is one of the sharpest weekly moves in oil prices in recent memory. The jump is tied to rising fears of a disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil supply flows, after President Trump doubled down on the possibility of a blockade. A Hormuz closure, even a partial or temporary one, would immediately tighten global crude supply since there is no easy alternative route for Gulf oil exporters. Higher oil prices feed directly into fuel costs, freight rates, and eventually consumer prices across most major economies. Traders and policymakers will be watching any further signals from Washington or the Gulf region closely, as even the threat of disruption has already repriced energy markets significantly this week.
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.
