The Indian rupee closed marginally stronger on Thursday, drawing support from growing optimism around a potential deal to end the Iran conflict. The prospect of a diplomatic resolution pushed oil prices below $100 a barrel and lifted global equities to record highs, creating a broadly favorable backdrop for emerging market currencies. For India, which imports the majority of its crude oil, lower energy prices directly reduce the current account deficit and ease imported inflation pressure, both of which weigh heavily on rupee valuation. Sustained oil prices beneath the $100 threshold would give the Reserve Bank of India more room to manage monetary policy without aggressive currency intervention. The key variables to track: whether diplomatic talks materialize into a formal agreement, how durable the oil price retreat proves, and whether the equity rally sustains enough risk appetite to keep capital flowing into emerging markets.
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.
