Oil prices have surged sharply in recent days, with some analysts warning that Brent crude could climb to $150 per barrel if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for a prolonged period amid the escalating Iran–Israel conflict. After a sharp selloff last week, Indian equities may face further valuation pressure in the near term due to heightened volatility, analysts said.

Crude oil prices crossed the key psychological mark of $100 per barrel last week, the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Despite attempts by the US administration to reassure markets, the conflict in the oil-rich Middle East continues to intensify.

Iran has warned that oil prices could surge to as high as $200 per barrel if the conflict escalates further. Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new supreme leader and son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, described the Strait of Hormuz as a strategic “tool of pressure” that must remain shut during the conflict. In a message aired on state television, he also warned that US military bases across the region could face attacks as Iran seeks retaliation for casualties from the conflict.

Oil prices have risen amid growing expectations that the Strait of Hormuz may remain shut, disrupting global energy trade. The narrow 33-km waterway connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman carries more than 20% of the world’s oil and gas shipments, making it one of the most critical chokepoints in global energy markets.

What lies ahead for oil prices

Global crude oil prices could rise to $120 per barrel in the near term and potentially reach $150 per barrel if the war continues for over a month and geopolitical tensions remain elevated in West Asia, said Kayanat Chainwala, Assistant Vice President at Kotak Securities.

“Any prolonged disruption to this trade route will be bullish for crude oil and negative for other commodities, as it fuels inflation concerns and could delay interest rate cuts,” Chainwala said.
A report by Nuvama also noted that crude prices could climb to $150 per barrel if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for four to eight weeks. However, such extreme price levels could eventually lead to demand destruction and trigger alternative supply responses.The report added that Asian economies are likely to bear the brunt of the disruption, as nearly 13 million barrels per day (mbpd) of oil shipments to countries including China, India, Japan and South Korea pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, Systematix Institutional Equities said global crude markets have entered a phase of heightened volatility over the past two weeks, driven by the destruction of oil and gas assets in West Asia, which has added a strong geopolitical risk premium to prices.

“Tanker freight rates and insurance premiums for vessels passing through high-risk zones have also surged, significantly raising procurement costs,” the brokerage said.

How Indian stock markets may react

The Nifty 50 fell 5.3% last week as the Iran–Israel conflict, a weakening rupee, persistent FII outflows and concerns over fuel supply weighed on sentiment. While Systematix expects near-term volatility to impact valuations, it continues to prefer Reliance Industries, Petronet LNG, Deep Industries and Gulf Oil as long-term bets.

According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, market direction in the coming weeks will largely depend on developments in the Iran conflict and the trajectory of crude prices, given their implications for inflation, corporate margins, the current account deficit and RBI policy flexibility.

“A firm dollar and higher US bond yields may keep FIIs selective and volatility elevated. Selective value opportunities may emerge in fundamentally resilient and domestically driven sectors, while energy-sensitive segments could remain under pressure if crude prices stay elevated,” he said.

He added that domestic institutional buying has provided some cushion, but a sustained market recovery would likely require clear signs of geopolitical de-escalation, stabilisation in crude prices and improved clarity on fuel supply dynamics.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research – Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said market volatility is likely to persist as geopolitical tensions disrupt the energy market and keep risk sentiment fragile.

“Indian equities have seen a sharp correction in 2026 amid heightened global uncertainty, resulting in significant erosion of market value across segments,” Khemka said.

The Nifty 50 has declined over 11% so far this year, while the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices are down around 10% each. In March alone, the Nifty has fallen about 8%, marking its steepest monthly decline since the pandemic-driven crash of March 2020.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee recently hit a record low of Rs 92.45 against the US dollar as rising energy prices and risk-off sentiment heightened concerns about India’s current account deficit, given the country imports nearly 88% of its crude oil requirements.

Elevated oil prices have also intensified concerns around inflationary pressures, widening external balances and pressure on corporate margins, prompting investors to trim equity exposure and shift towards safer assets.

“Rate-sensitive and cyclical sectors such as banking, financial services and automobiles have seen notable selling pressure,” Khemka added.

Looking ahead, markets are expected to remain highly sensitive to developments in the West Asia conflict, movements in crude oil prices and trends in foreign fund flows.

“Persistent foreign outflows and elevated oil prices could keep sentiment cautious, while any signs of easing geopolitical tensions may provide relief to markets,” he said.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

A flock of crows dive-bombed a Vancouver woman eight times as she ran screaming down the street, landing on her head between attacks. In Los Angeles, a homeowner watched crows slam their beaks against his glass door so hard he feared it would shatter. Neither person had done anything to provoke the birds that day. According to a report in The New York Times, the crows were not confused. They were settling an old score, and crow scores can stay open for a very long time.

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Behind these odd, unsettling encounters lies a piece of science that most people never think about: crows can recognise a human face, remember what that face did to them, and hold on to the grudge for close to two decades. They even teach their chicks to hate the same face. For anyone who has ever startled, trapped, or annoyed a crow, that is not comforting news.

Brains Behind The Beak

Crows are not just noisy backyard birds. They mimic human speech, use tools to solve problems, and recognise individual human faces even in a crowded street. They also gather in groups that look strikingly like funerals when a member of their flock, known as a murder, is killed.

That same intelligence gives crows an unusually long memory for insults. A crow can live for about a dozen years, but a grudge against a specific person can outlive the bird that started it, passed down to chicks and flockmates who never even met the original offender.

When Payback Follows You Home

Gene Carter, a computer specialist in Seattle, found this out the hard way. He once chased away crows that were bothering a robin’s nest and threw a rake into the air to scare them off. What followed was nearly a year of retaliation. The birds waited outside his kitchen, dive-bombed him on his way to his car, and tracked him down every single day at his bus stop.
“They were waiting for me at the bus stop every single day,” he said.He told The New York Times the birds followed him for several blocks on his walk home from the stop, swooping at him the whole way. The harassment ended only after he moved out of the neighbourhood.

Spring Is Attack Season

Most crow attacks are not really personal, experts say. They spike in spring and early summer, when parent crows are guarding nests full of chicks and treat anyone who walks too close as a threat.

But grudges built outside nesting season can last far longer than a single breeding cycle. Dr John Marzluff, a professor who has spent years studying how humans and crows interact, has tracked one grudge for 17 years and counting. In 2006, he trapped seven crows on the University of Washington campus while wearing an ogre mask, then released them. The experience rattled the birds and the flockmates who watched it happen.

To measure how long the memory lasted, Marzluff and his team kept putting on the same ogre mask and walking across campus over the following years. Each time, crows responded with loud, aggressive calls that researchers describe as “scolding.” By around the seventh year of the experiment, roughly half the crows he came across were cawing furiously at the mask, even though most of them had not even been born when the original trapping happened.

How A Bird Remembers A Face

Crows owe this to extremely sharp eyesight, tuned to pick up fine details in shapes, patterns and movement, including the layout of a human face. When a crow has a strong experience with a person, whether being trapped and harassed or being fed and cared for, its brain links that specific face to that specific outcome.

The bird is not learning to fear people in general. It is learning to fear, or trust, one particular face. What makes crows especially difficult to shake off is that this information does not stay with one bird. When a crow reacts to a threatening face, other crows watching nearby pick up on the alarm and store that same face as dangerous, spreading the warning through the whole flock without the newer birds ever having a bad experience themselves.

Experts stress that none of this is malice. It is simply how a crow’s brain is built to keep it and its flock safe: notice a face, remember what it did, and pass the word along. The same memory works in reverse too. Crows also remember people who feed them or leave out clean water, and tend to treat those humans kindly for years afterwards. A handful of unsalted peanuts left out regularly, experts say, may be a cheaper way to stay on a crow’s good side than moving house.

Nicola Grant, chief people officer at UK insurance provider Hiscox, says she’s noticed a broader shift in how people think about their careers.

Increasingly, individuals – particularly earlier in their careers, she says – want to build a breadth of experience faster, rather than follow a single, linear path. They are building a portfolio of skills.

She’s also found there’s a greater willingness among younger employees to move if they feel their development is slowing, or their options are limited.

“Expectations have changed; people want variety, pace and to build skills that will remain relevant,” she says, “It’s about a desire for growth.”

“That ultimately benefits both the individual and the organisation,” she adds.

Lucy Kemp, a strategic brand and communications leader at the IT company La Fosse and an employee experience specialist, agrees.

To her, lily padding is the future of work, not just a trend, as people who follow the tactic try to reach more senior roles and higher pay.

“Younger people have seen that loyalty doesn’t pay off,” says Kemp. “They want to shape their own careers, based on skills they value.

“There’s a different sense of achievement compared to older generations, a completely different experience of work,” she says.

Kemp also points out that learning in the office from peers isn’t occurring as much since the pandemic, with people working from home and AI taking over basic tasks.

Instead, people are looking at skills that will be relevant in five years’ time. And they’ll get them by switching to a project on another team, a switch to another sector, or a job at another company, Kemp says. “People just want to learn something new and have a purpose.”

That’s how Harris-Nelson feels. “I see my career as an ongoing journey rather than a destination,” she says. “I’m always learning and growing.”

Olive Garden is bringing back its fan-favorite “Never Ending Pasta Pass,” the company announced this week.

Consumers can nab one of the 10,000 passes for $100, plus tax, on July 16 at 2 p.m. ET. Passholders are able to receive 13 weeks of unlimited pasta, sauces and protein toppings in addition to the chain’s unlimited soup or salad and breadsticks.

The product debuted in 2014 and was last offered in 2019.

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“Bringing it back felt like the right way to recognize the loyalty of so many guests who have kept it top of mind all these years,” said Jaime Bunker, Olive Garden’s senior vice president of marketing.

The promotion will only last until all 10,000 passes are claimed. The Never-Ending Pasta Pass isn’t available for redemption with to-go orders, but its in-restaurant redemptions are unlimited.

Ticker	Security	Last	Change	Change %
DRI	DARDEN RESTAURANTS INC.	195.74	-0.95	-0.48%

Olive Garden’s corporate parent, Darden Restaurants, in late June forecast full-year profit below Wall Street estimates and reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter sales, as higher input costs and increased marketing expenses weighed on margins amid persistent inflationary pressures.

The company, which also owns restaurants Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen and Chuy’s among others, now expects annual earnings per share from continuing operations between $11.10 and $11.35, below an expectation of $11.40 per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

It expects annual same-restaurant sales to grow 2.5% to 3.5%, the midpoint of which is above analysts’ estimates of 2.81%.

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Darden reported overall sales of $3.72 billion for the fourth quarter ended May 31, missing analysts’ estimate of $3.73 billion.

Its total operating costs and expenses rose 10.7% to $3.20 billion in the fourth quarter from the prior year.

Reuters contributed to this report.