With valuations in the S&P 500 & Nasdaq 100 at high levels relative to historic averages, Wall Street banks have cautioned on the US equity rally & indicated that downside protection should be taken. Signs of potential trouble such as unfavorable earnings outlooks for companies making up the Nasdaq 100, weakening technical indicators, & light positioning reducing fuel for gains have been cited.

ideaForge, a leading drone startup, has raised INR 255 Cr from anchor investors ahead of its IPO. The funding round saw domestic and foreign investors such as Nomura, Invesco, HSBC, ICICI Pru MF, etc. participate. The IPO set to open June 26,2023 with a price band of INR 638-672 per share, aims to raise INR 567 Cr.

100X.VC has announced a new portfolio of 22 startups from 11 cities in India, funded through Class 09. They have invested a total of $3.4M and have selected 709 startups out of 4210 applications submitted since 2019. 400 investors attended the VC Pitch Day event to learn about these startups in sectors such as F&B, ESG, SaaS, consumer brands, etc.

Japan Investment Corp is in talks to buy chipmaker JSR Corp for ~$7B. If successful, it would delist from the Tokyo Stock Exchange and grant JSR greater freedom to expand due to no market performance constraint. To fund they will establish a new company with $500B in capital and Mizuho Bank providing $400B in finance.

Amazon has committed to invest $26B in India over the next seven years to support startups and small businesses, create jobs, enable exports, and compete globally. This commitment follows a host of other agreements between tech giants and the Indian government and comes after Amazon's investments of nearly $11B in India.

Oil prices dropped on Friday due to worry that rising interest rates will decrease demand, even though supply is tightening - evidenced by lower US crude stocks and a Saudi Arabia production cut. This was compounded by disappointing stimulus data from China and higher US interest rates, plus falling economic activity in US businesses which all weighed on the market.

Gold prices on Friday were heading for their biggest weekly drop in 4 months, weighed down by a stronger dollar and Fed officials hinting at further rate hikes. The dollar strengthening and the potential for more rate hikes makes gold less attractive, leading to falling prices and investor sentiment shifting away from bullion. Silver was off 0.5%, platinum down 0.6%.

Delivery volume in HDFC & HDFC Bank's shares have risen this month, as investors with long term interest in the companies are buying, due to the merger. Analysts believe both entities offer great value to investors & that HDFC Bank offers better opportunities and growth potential even post merger.

US stocks closed lower on Friday, ending a week marked by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's testimony that hinted at more rate hikes ahead but with caution. All 3 major indexes had losses in a broad sell-off, ending a weeks-long rally. With limited catalysts aside from Powell’s words, the Nasdaq snapped its 8-week winning streak & S&P 500 ended its 5-week rally.

The Indian market ended 4 weeks of gains with volatile trading in the week ending June 23, as global markets reacted to hawkish commentary by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell & a surprise rate hike by the Bank of England. The monsoon's delayed arrival also dampened investor sentiment, causing indices like BSE Sensex (down 0.63% at 62,979.37) & Nifty50 (down 0.85% at 18,665.50) to decline.

Sebi's investigation into PTC India Financial Services found its Chairman (Rajib Mishra) and MD/CEO (Pawan Singh) to be responsible for corporate governance lapses. Emails from independent directors to the Chairman/MD/CEO seeking resolution of issues were ignored, leading to the Resignation of 3 directors and the ensuing Sebi probe.

SBI Holdings Inc, a Japanese online financial conglomerate, has gained 53.74% of shares in SBI Shinsei Bank through a tender offer. The company plans to delist Shinsei from the stock exchange and return a government bailout of 349 billion yen ($2.43 billion) that Shinsei's predecessor had received two decades ago. SBI Holdings is aiming to build Japan's fourth-largest banking group.

AdaniConneX, the data centre business of the Adani Group, has raised $213 million from a consortium including international banks to fund the construction of its upcoming 50MW data centre in Noida and 17MW data centre in Chennai. With this funding, the company aims to build 1GW green data centre platform in India by 2030.

The government has relaxed export norms for certain civilian drones, to be shipped under a one-time, valid-for-3 year General Authorization for Export of Drones. This move will make it easier for drone manufacturers to compete in the global market, enabling economic growth & boosting innovation in this industry. It may also help India become a global hub for such products.

The Ministry of Railways in India is planning to procure 60,000 wagons at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore as part of their plans to increase their freight traffic share to 45% by 2030. 10,000 of these wagons are expected to be made of aluminium & will be all-aluminium superstructure which has been shown to reduce CO2 emissions by 14,500 tonnes per rake & have a longer lifespan & 80% resale value.