Pakistan's KSE-100 index dropped 1,742 points on Monday, closing at 172,196.70, a 1% decline from Friday's close of 173,939.01, as renewed uncertainty over Middle East conflict rattled investor sentiment. The selloff was sharp intraday: the index hit a session high of 174,523.76 before sliding to a low of 169,226.56, a swing of over 5,000 points, before partially recovering into the close. The immediate trigger is doubt over whether a second round of US-Iran talks, expected to be held in Islamabad, will proceed. The geopolitical risk channel here runs through oil prices and inflation: when Middle East tensions ease, falling oil prices reduce Pakistan's import bill and soften inflationary pressure, creating room for a looser monetary policy, the logic that drove a 4% weekly gain last week. Monday's reversal illustrates how fragile that trade is. The index still sits roughly 15,227 points below its January 23 all-time high of 189,166.83, and any breakdown in US-Iran diplomacy or oil price spike would put the recent recovery, built largely on rate-cut expectations, under significant stress.
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.
