_Markets open today_
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
📊 *ECONOMY & POLICY*
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🤝 *Modi-Trump Meet at G7 — Trade Deal Tranche 1 by Mid-July*
PM Modi and President Trump hold their first face-to-face since February 2025 today at the G7 Summit in Évian, France, with India-US trade deal Tranche 1 targeted for conclusion by mid-July and USTR Jamieson Greer visiting India next week.
The bilateral carries extra weight given Indian sailor deaths in US military strikes near the Strait of Hormuz — New Delhi will likely seek both trade and accountability concessions in the same sitting.
📎 _Read: Outlook India_
📈 *SEBI Revives Buyback via Stock Exchanges*
SEBI is set to reintroduce the stock exchange route for share buybacks — reversing the 2021 shift to tender-offer-only — while also easing merchant banker requirements and relaxing intraday borrowing limits for mutual funds.
Lower buyback execution costs will benefit cash-rich listed companies, and improved MF cash management flexibility adds a market liquidity tailwind — both are broadly positive for equity markets.
📎 _Read: Economic Times_
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🏢 *COMPANIES*
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
💻 *HCLTech Bets $150M on Sarvam AI — Sovereign AI Play*
HCLTech invested $150 million for a 10.46% stake in Bengaluru-based Sarvam AI at a $1.5 billion post-money valuation, becoming the lead strategic investor to co-build India-first sovereign AI models for enterprises and governments globally; the stock was Tuesday’s top Sensex gainer at +3.7%.
Nomura has a Buy with ₹1,600 target (39% upside); Morgan Stanley flags execution risk given Sarvam’s early ₹451 million FY26 revenue — the deal is strategically bold but the financial payoff is long-dated.
📎 _Read: Business Standard_
📈 *Zerodha, Groww, Angel One, Upstox Get GIFT City Nod for US Stocks*
IFSCA has licensed all four leading Indian retail brokers to offer US equity access from GIFT City — Groww and Upstox as Global Access Providers, Zerodha and Angel One as broker-dealers — opening a fully regulated onshore route for Indian retail investors to access US markets directly.
This intensifies competition in the international investing segment and may gradually divert flows away from existing offshore/LRS routes, while also strengthening GIFT City’s positioning as a genuine financial hub.
📎 _Read: Economic Times_
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🌍 *GLOBAL & WORLD*
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
🤝 *Modi at G7 Évian — 13 India-France Deals Signed, Including Defence & UPI*
PM Modi’s bilateral with President Macron on the sidelines of the G7 in Évian yielded 13 major agreements spanning defence, UPI expansion into France, and technology cooperation — part of a broader diplomatic sweep including meetings with UK’s Starmer, Canada’s Carney, and UAE’s MBZ.
For investors, the UPI and defence deals open new revenue streams for Indian payment infrastructure exporters and defence manufacturers, while the diplomatic optics reinforce India’s positioning as a G7-adjacent partner economy.
📎 _Read: India TV News_
💻 *Nvidia’s $20B Bond Issue Draws $85 Billion in Orders*
Nvidia’s first bond offering in five years attracted ~$85 billion in orders against a minimum $20 billion target — a 4x+ oversubscription that sets a new global benchmark for AI infrastructure debt financing and signals abundant capital availability for the AI buildout.
For Indian IT investors, this confirms that the AI capex supercycle remains fully intact, keeping deal pipelines alive for Indian tech services firms with AI infrastructure and cloud delivery capabilities.
📎 _Read: Economic Times_
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
_Compiled by Daily Business Briefs · 17 Jun 2026_