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This edition captures a month defined by the fragile ceasefire’s collapse in the Strait of Hormuz, as renewed US-Iran hostilities pushed war-risk shipping premiums to multi-year highs and kept crude oil firmly geopolitically driven. We examine how this volatility rippled through global markets, a recovering Nasdaq and DAX, a resilient Nikkei, and a softer FTSE, alongside shifting dollar dynamics, a strong gold rally, and hafnium’s emergence as the decade’s tightest metal market amid colliding demand from turbine makers, chipmakers, and nuclear operators. The report also tracks India’s market performance through a mildly negative Nifty 50, banking sector resilience against foreign outflows, a rebounding Nifty IT, and continued domestic institutional support that buffered risk-off sessions through the month. Beyond markets, this edition unpacks the real arithmetic behind the UK-India CETA trade deal, the CAG’s sobering audit of BharatNet’s rural connectivity rollout, Wispr’s rapid re-rating as a voice-AI unicorn built on accuracy over dictation, and Garuda Aerospace’s unconventional path to India’s first agri-drone IPO. From energy security and infrastructure delivery to AI-driven valuations and public capital planning, August was defined by geopolitical fragility, execution gaps, and selective resilience.
Co – Contributors: Kushagra Khetan | Ishan Jain
