Wall Street indexes opened sharply higher Friday after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi announced the Strait of Hormuz was open, following a ceasefire agreement reached in Lebanon. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 600 points at the open, reflecting immediate investor relief across equity markets. The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most critical oil chokepoint, carrying roughly one-fifth of global petroleum flows, and any closure threat directly reprices energy and risk assets. Araqchi's statement removed a near-term supply disruption premium that had been embedded in crude and equity volatility. The Lebanon ceasefire provides the diplomatic backdrop that made the Hormuz announcement credible to markets. Traders will now watch whether the ceasefire holds, whether Iran formalizes any commitment on naval passage, and how energy futures reprice through the session as the geopolitical risk premium unwinds.
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.
