NDTV Profit Pulse On June 17 — Top 8 Stories At 8 P.M. Under 8 Minutes

Among the top stories of the day is a big shift in expiry dynamics—NSE’s futures and options contracts will now expire on Tuesdays instead of Thursdays. Meanwhile, Air India has cancelled a flight on the same route as last week's tragic crash.

In markets, benchmark indices cooled off again, weighed down by bluechips. Tata Motors remains in focus after JLR’s investor day, while brokerages remain bullish despite weak guidance. And a Profit Exclusive reveals the brewing HR crisis at AGS Transact Technologies.

Here’s a quick roundup of today’s key headlines:

The National Stock Exchange will shift its futures and options expiry from Thursday to Tuesday, following fresh guidelines from SEBI. Exchanges were given a choice between Tuesday and Thursday and had to seek prior approval for any change. BSE is in no rush to follow suit.

“Thursday expiry has been there in India for a long time. We cannot make an assessment yet,” said BSE CEO Sundararaman Ramamurthy exclusively to NDTV Profit.

Air India has cancelled flight AI 159 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, citing airspace restrictions and precautionary checks. The same route saw a fatal crash last Thursday, but the airline clarified that today's cancellation was not due to any technical issue.

Tata Motors expects Jaguar Land Rover’s revenue to decline by £1 billion and margins to shrink 300 basis points in fiscal 2026. Still, brokerages remain positive on the medium-term outlook, citing cost-saving initiatives and gains from the US-UK Free Trade Agreement. Read more here.

HSBC Global Research projects an annual boost of $30–40 billion in discretionary spending in India over the next two years. This will be driven by tax cuts in fiscal 2026, the 8th Pay Commission hike, and lower interest rates and inflation.

Employees at AGS Transact are grappling with delayed salaries, with many denied access to the company's top brass. NDTV Profit spoke to Hyderabad-based employee Vinod Kumar, who described repeated visits to Mumbai and unfulfilled promises from Chairman Ravi Goyal. The company is facing financial distress, with defaults across loans, vendor dues, and ATM operations.

Room air conditioner sales are down 15–20% year-on-year, hit by unexpected rains and a high base from last summer. Jefferies expects both Voltas and Blue Star to post lower-double-digit volume drops in the first quarter. While Voltas is still a ‘buy’, Blue Star’s rating has been cut to ‘hold’.

President Trump left the G-7 summit early to focus on the Israel-Iran conflict, calling for “a real end” rather than a ceasefire. He said a permanent resolution on Iran’s nuclear program is the goal and may send VP JD Vance or envoy Steven Witkoff for talks, but added he's “not in the mood to negotiate.”

The Nifty 50 fell 93.1 points to 24,853.4, while the Sensex lost 212.85 points to close at 81,583.3. HDFC Bank and Reliance were among the top drags. Intraday, the Nifty dropped as much as 0.53%.