The Indian rupee has fallen to a record low, driven by elevated energy import costs that are widening India's trade deficit and draining foreign exchange. The pressure is now landing squarely on the Reserve Bank of India, which had been holding rates steady after a series of earlier hikes. A weaker rupee makes imports more expensive, feeds domestic inflation, and accelerates capital outflows as investors move money to stronger currencies and higher-yielding markets abroad. The RBI's preferred path was to pause and watch, but a currency in freefall limits that option. To defend the rupee and slow capital flight, the central bank may have to raise interest rates even if the domestic growth outlook does not call for it. Higher rates would push up borrowing costs for businesses and households across India. The key question now is how far the rupee falls before the RBI acts, and whether rate hikes alone are enough to stabilise it without a broader energy supply shift.
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.
