Japanese convenience store chain 7-Eleven’s second attempt to crack India’s retail market through a franchise model may have failed, but the company has no plans to write off its ambitions to build a presence in one of the world’s most populous countries.

At the end of September, Reliance Retail, the master franchise operator of 7-Eleven stores, shut down all 31 outlets across India, a spokesperson for the Japanese company told CNBC in an email. Reliance Retail is owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.

The 7-Eleven representative said that the company still aspires to serve customers in India and “looks forward to exploring several options to advance our presence in the market over the long term.”

The spokesperson declined to provide additional comments on Reliance’s business decisions and the status of the agreement between the Japanese and Indian companies.

Reliance Retail did not immediately respond to CNBC’s emailed request for comment.

The two firms had announced their partnership in 2021, after the Japanese company’s pact with another Indian company, Future Retail, was terminated. At the time, Future Retail, in a regulatory disclosure, had said the termination was mutual as it was “not able to meet the target of opening stores and payment of franchisee fees.”

Analysts told CNBC that the 7-Eleven store closures point to a reset of its operations in India, not to an exit, especially at a time when its rival Japanese chain Lawsons has also made plans to enter India.

The closures do not mean that “7-Eleven is giving up on India,” Sohrab Bararia, partner at consultancy firm Grant Thornton Bharat, told CNBC. “It seems more like a rethink of the current franchise arrangement, particularly given the losses under the existing model,” he added.

7-India Convenience Retail, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Retail that entered into a master franchise agreement with 7-Eleven in 2021, reported a net loss of nearly 900 million rupees ($9.3 million) in the year ended March 2026 on revenues of around 920 million rupees. The firm’s losses have widened continuously from 52 million rupees in the financial year ended March 2022, as per data from Tracxn.

Creating a compelling reason to visit a convenience store is a big challenge for small-format outlets in India, experts said. While larger stores offer lower prices and experiential shopping with a wide variety of products, smaller stores with limited inventory struggle to compete.

Meanwhile, 10-minute-delivery grocery apps are growing in popularity as they have a wider selection and offer convenience, which customers in big cities prefer, experts said.

“Small-format stores, meanwhile, bear high rents and full staffing costs but generate relatively low sales per outlet,” Bharat Birla, executive director of Anand Rathi Investment Banking, told CNBC.

However, analysts said that even though India’s convenience store market is crowded with 10-minute-delivery apps and small mom-and-pop shops, Japanese companies could still find a niche that diversifies away from a “traditional grocery-led model.”

Lawson’s plans to establish a “local subsidiary and operate directly managed stores from 2027,” Birla said, adding that 7-Eleven could also consider this route.

Earlier this year, multiple Japanese media reports said the convenience store chain plans to open its first five stores in Mumbai in 2027 and plans to have a total of 100 stores in India by 2030. These stores will be owned and managed through a local subsidiary that Lawson will set up in India before February 2027, the reports said.

A shift away from the twice-failed franchise model would provide 7-Eleven with room for “strategic involvement” while allowing for localization and a broader pathway to scale across India, Bararia said.

BEIJING — European trade commissioner Maroš Sefčovič said Friday that China has agreed to halve its exports of hybrid cars to the bloc.

Europe has called on China to voluntarily reduce hybrid car exports into the continent, but authorities in Beijing had reportedly slapped down the request, according to the Financial Times.

The widening trade surplus between the EU and China has been a point of contention, with Germany and France previously having called on Brussels to develop a “last-resort” trade instrument to address imbalances.

Sefčovič said Friday that the final decision would still need Brussels’ approval. Overall, he cast the two days of talks with China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing as a positive first step, following a summer of rising tensions between China and the EU.

China’s Commerce Ministry on Friday released a list of 16 “‘consensus outcomes.”

They included licenses for rare earth and permanent magnet export licenses to the EU. Sefcovic did not elaborate on a timeline for the rare earth exports.

Earlier this year, on June 29 for the first meeting of the EU-China Trade and Investment Consultations.

The two sides agreed to next meet in March, with a video conference in January, according to the Chinese readout.

India called comments by U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance about immigrants from the country “deeply offensive” in an official government statement published on Friday.

Vance said on Thursday that the Trump administration wants foreign and local companies to “employ American workers,” and that they “cannot lay off American workers and then replace them with foreign indentured servants.”

He was speaking as the U.S. Department of Labor announced it would suspend Microsoft, Adobe and several major Indian information technology companies from its Permanent Labor Certification program, meaning they cannot apply for permanent residency for their employees on H-1 B visas.

Around 70% of H-1B beneficiaries in 2025 were born in India, per official data.

In a statement on Friday, India’s Ministry of External Affairs accused Vance of using “terminology that carries painful historical and colonial legacy connotations.”

“Such descriptions are unwarranted and ignore the fact that Indian professionals in the United States are highly educated and skilled contributors to its economy and innovation ecosystem,” the statement said.

Vance’s office did not immediately respond to a comment request from CNBC.

Vance was critical of Microsoft, accusing the company of replacing 6,000 laid-off workers with people on H-1B visas.

The Indian foreign ministry assured its citizens that measures announced by the U.S. will not affect the validity of existing H-1B visas or the status of H-1B visa holders and their dependents.

“Talent mobility adds value to both economies,” the statement said, adding that the suspensions “do not advance the shared ambitions of both countries.”

The Indian companies affected by the ban include Cognizant, Infosys, Capgemini, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro and HCL.

NASSCOM, the IT industry body, said in a statement that Indian technology companies have “significantly reduced their dependence on H-1B visas” over the last few years, and are expanding domestic hiring to their U.S. workforces.

The largest Indian IT company, Tata Consultancy Services, said its H-1B applications were in “single digits” in the last two years, and it intends to hire another 15,000 people in the U.S. over the next five years.

In June, a federal judge blocked the $100,000 H-1B visa fee U.S. President Donald Trump imposed last year.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk on Thursday took a shot at Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, a day after he accused certain “oligarchs” of stalling the launch of his company’s Starlink internet service in the country.

Musk said Starlink was not being allowed to launch in India despite having spent “five years complying with every single law and requirement” of the government.

“Is Ambani the real boss of India?” Musk questioned in a post, having blamed a day earlier “oligarchs” in the country for maintaining a “monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people.”

Ambani’s Jio is the largest telecom and internet service operator in India and, along with the other major operator, Airtel, controls about 80% of the market.

Musk’s comment against Ambani caused a political stir in India, eliciting a response from India’s leader of opposition, Rahul Gandhi, who has consistently alleged that the government is being influenced by powerful businessmen in India.

“Wait till you meet the other one,” Gandhi said in a veiled reference to India’s wealthiest businessman Gautam Adani, who has been a key target of the politician. “This is indeed troubling,” Musk said in response to Gandhi.

Reliance Industries, Ambani’s flagship company, did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

In March last year, Starlink signed pacts with Ambani’s Jio Platforms and India’s second-largest telecom company Airtel to explore cross-selling the products and services of the U.S. company in India.

Following the interim deals, Musk’s satellite internet business in July last year got a license to launch its services in India.

But Starlink could not launch. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that New Delhi had frozen approvals for Starlink over concerns that its terminals could be used despite the service not being licensed.

Meanwhile, Akash Ambani, the son of Mukesh and managing director of Jio Platforms, told shareholders in June that his company was planning to roll out low-orbit satellite communications in the country.

Jio is looking to set up set up a satellite network of around 1,600 LEO satellites and 23 ground stations to expand connectivity across India, according to local media reports. Starlink, on the other hand, has 11,000 satellites in orbit that provide service to people in over 170 countries and territories.

Akash Ambani on Thursday told Moneycontrol, a platform owned by the Reliance Group, that the company believes “India needs its own indigenous stack of technologies.”

Satellite communication is not the only space where Musk’s business plans in India have failed to take off. Tesla, which was launched last year in the South Asian country, has received an underwhelming response, with the company reportedly selling just a little over 1,000 cars since launch.

Australian AI data center operator Firmus, which is backed by Nvidia, has withdrawn its planned mega initial public offering, citing market volatility and conditions, the company said in an emailed statement to CNBC.

Firmus said its board determined that the terms of the proposed offering did not adequately reflect the strength of its business and long-term growth outlook.

“The board therefore concluded that proceeding with the offer was not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” Firmus said in a statement. “Firmus will now pursue capital from the private markets and consider alternative public and private market options,” it added.

Firmus had reportedly planned to raise $5 billion in its IPO, pricing shares at A$11 apiece, which would have made it the second-largest new share sale in Australia’s history. The IPO valued the company at around $30.6 billion.  

In August, the company announced a $2 billion funding round backed by Nvidia, Coatue Management, Blackstone and Jane Street, bringing its total equity raised over the preceding year to more than $3 billion and its valuation to over $10.5 billion.

Firmus also announced agreements with Meta last month to provide GPU computing capacity at its AI data centers in Southeast Asia, built on Nvidia’s DSX platform, to support Meta’s AI research, model development and training.

SINGAPORE – Investors are overestimating the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait, a top U.S. East Asian diplomat said, stressing that deterrence and “substantial consequences” would keep Beijing from taking the island by 2027.

While the U.S. government has often indicated Beijing’s directive for the People’s Liberation Army to be ready for military action in Taiwan by 2027, Beijing has never publicly confirmed the timeline.   

“I actually think the most mispricing is with regard to Taiwan, where actually I think people are overpricing the risk of something happening across the Taiwan Strait,” said Michael DeSombre, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told CNBC on Thursday. 

“Both China and the U.S. don’t want conflict, and we’re able to deter conflict,” he told CNBC’s Sri Jegarajah in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Asia Summit. “Concerns of that perhaps are priced at too high a level.”

Beijing claims Taiwan as its territory and hasn’t ruled out force to bring it under its control. The democratically governed island’s government rejects Beijing’s claims.

China has also sought to push Washington for a change in its longstanding diplomatic stance on the island to formally “oppose” Taiwan independence. However, the summit last month between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not yield any public agreement on Taiwan.

The U.S. President has held back approval of a new package of arms sales to Taipei worth $14 billion after an earlier package of $11 billion in arms sales to Taiwan had drawn a sharp response from Beijing in December.

Days after the leaders’ summit, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung visited Arizona for the opening ​of a new de facto consulate in ‌Phoenix. 

Beijing has sought to increasingly solidify its military presence near the island in recent months. A Chinese military boat was spotted along with two vessels off Taiwan’s Pacific coast for the first time in August, Reuters reported, citing a surveillance report. It has also been courting Taiwan’s opposition party, the Kuomintang, since last year to pull the island into its orbit as it prepares for the presidential election in 2028.

Asked whether plans to “reunify Taiwan” by 2027 were a cause for concern, DeSombre said that Xi is “a very rational actor … To the extent that he realizes that it can’t be done, or it can’t be done without substantial consequences, it won’t happen.”

DeSombre played up the importance of keeping deterrence credible. “That’s why it’s important … ensuring that we have the deterrence in place with our allies and partners to make sure it does not happen.”

Taiwan is the world’s leading ​manufacturer of cutting-edge computer chips and TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, has invested tens of billions of dollars in facilities in Phoenix. The projects have received ​significant U.S. subsidies as Washington seeks to revive domestic semiconductor manufacturing.

Hello, this is Anniek Bao writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

In Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy, two men wait beside a barren tree for someone called Godot who never arrives. With the midterms nearing, Americans are waiting for a sustained drop in fuel prices that remains out of sight.

U.S. President Donald Trump has promised not to attack Iran until voters have had their say. That’s supposed to ease energy prices, but speculators on prediction market platform Kalshi aren’t convinced, placing more than 80% odds that gas will remain above $4 per gallon on Election Day next month.

Worries also arose in the AI trade. OpenAI told investors it reached about $50 billion in annualized revenue, not the $68 billion widely reported last month — dragging other heavyweight tech stocks down with it.

Trump said Thursday the U.S. will not attack Iran before the Midterm Elections, adding that the two sides were having “productive discussions.”

The president, whose approval ratings have fallen to career-lows, has sought to calm the rising energy costs weighing on American households. But speculators on prediction market platform Kalshi are not buying it, pricing in an 87% chance that the average gas prices will stay above $4 per gallon heading into the elections in November.

A day before, reports said that the Pentagon had recently told U.S. Central Command to finish preparations to resume major combat operations against Iran.

Oil eased off its highs after the post, but it didn’t give up its gains. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark, gained 4% to top $104 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures advanced 3.6% to settle at $91.49 per barrel.

The U.S. Treasury Department, meanwhile, sanctioned more than a dozen vessels that it says are connected to Iran’s “shadow fleet” used to transport oil and gas out of the country, as Washington seeks to further squeeze Tehran’s economy to end the war that is now in its eighth month.

Stock futures were near flat after an underwhelming revenue report from OpenAI rattled the AI trade. S&P 500 futures were up 0.09%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.05%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 23 points, or 0.04%.

OpenAI told investors that it reached roughly $50 billion in annualized revenue at the end of September, well short of the $68 billion figure widely reported late last month. Shares of Nvidia, Oracle, CoreWeave and other artificial intelligence names sank.

Vice President JD Vance announced the suspension of Microsoft, Adobe and six IT services firms from a program that helps skilled foreign workers get green cards.

“You’re a great American company, but you’ve got to hire great American workers,” Vance said of Microsoft.

“So we’re going to continue to support Microsoft and have a great relationship with Microsoft, but we’re also going to deny them the ability to apply for these permanent residencies until they show that they are going to get serious about putting American workers first,” Vance said.

SpaceX agreed to purchase a nationwide spectrum portfolio as it pushes its Starlink service deeper into the U.S. telecommunications market.

The deal involves the acquisition of a spectrum portfolio from Grain Management, which specializes in digital infrastructure, and is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission.

Elsewhere, Musk accused India’s “oligarchs” of blocking the launch of his company’s satellite internet service, Starlink, to protect their dominance in the market. The country’s telecom and internet service market is dominated by Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s Jio and Sunil Mittal’s Airtel, with both companies together holding over 80% market share.

“We are being blocked by certain oligarchs in order to maintain their monopolistic chokehold on the Indian people,” Musk said Wednesday stateside in a post on X, without naming his rivals. “You can guess who they are,” he said.

— Anniek Bao

The Indian billionaire investing in Trump’s refinery project is also buying more Venezuelan crude

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which is investing in a historic U.S. oil refinery project proposed by President Donald Trump, has now emerged as the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude outside the U.S.

Trump has been pushing India to buy more Venezuelan oil, but while state-owned oil companies are making opportunistic purchases, Reliance has been the primary buyer, according to Kpler data shared with CNBC. It shows that outside the U.S., India is the biggest destination for these supplies, with Reliance purchasing the bulk of that crude.

“Reliance’s Jamnagar complex has been the main destination for Venezuelan crude in India, and we expect it to remain the primary buyer,” Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst at Kpler, told CNBC.

— Priyanka Salve

The U.K. broke with the U.S. by opening its doors to China’s electric vehicle juggernaut.

Chinese EVs face only a 10% standard import duty in Britain, one of the largest major overseas markets without additional China-specific tariffs. Japan and Norway also lack them.

It’s in contrast to the U.S., where a 100% tariff effectively shut Chinese EVs out. The European Union, the U.K.’s biggest trading partner, has manufacturer-specific duties on Chinese EVs of up to 35.3%, in addition to a standard 10% import duty on all foreign cars.

Now, the U.K. faces a difficult choice, as EU proposals may force it to impose tariffs to match the bloc’s.

At the weekend, The Sunday Times reported that U.K. Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds is considering matching the EU’s levy on Chinese EVs to avoid the pain of so-called Made in Europe proposals, which could hurt domestic companies selling into the EU.

A U.K. government spokesperson reiterated to CNBC that it had not imposed tariffs on Chinese EVs but added, “We continue to engage closely with industry so that our approach reflects the sector’s and UK’s national interests.”

The Made in Europe legislation, part of the EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act, is designed to protect the bloc’s industries from unfair international competition by prioritizing European-made goods.

An EU official told the Financial Times in September that London would need to raise tariffs on Chinese EVs and align more closely with EU trade policy to avoid “Made in Europe” barriers.

The decision is finely balanced, given Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s desire to reset relations with the EU, which the U.K. formally left in 2020, and the likelihood of China responding with retaliatory measures.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London said it had expressed “serious concern” to Britain about the reports about potential tariffs.

“China is firmly opposed to any discriminatory practice involving tariff hikes or restrictive measures on Chinese products,” a spokesperson said Tuesday. “We will continue to follow developments and respond accordingly,” they said.

Chinese car brands have swiftly captured market share in the U.K.

Analysis by Jato Dynamics found that registrations of Chinese automakers, or original equipment manufacturers, across both battery-electric and hybrid powertrains, rose to 519,424 between the start of January and the end of August, lifting their total market share to 28.1%. That’s up sharply from 12.9% in the same period in 2025.

Hybrids accounted for the larger increase, adding 62,655 registrations versus 32,565 for battery-electric vehicles.

“That matters for policy,” Paul Hilton, head of retail at Jato Dynamics, told CNBC by email.

“Tariffs aimed only at Chinese-built battery EVs could slow one part of the expansion, but would not address hybrid growth, vehicles made outside China or the underlying advantages in cost, product cadence and supply chains,” Hilton said.

“A durable UK response should pair any evidence-based trade remedy with incentives for local production, competitive energy and battery costs, charging infrastructure, skills and alignment with European market-access rules.”

The bestselling car in the U.K. last month was not a Tesla or a Ford — but the Jaecoo 7 from China.

The mid-size SUV, nicknamed the “Temu Range Rover,” starts at about £29,000 ($38,350) in the U.K., compared with roughly £45,500 for a Land Rover Discovery Sport.

The Jaecoo 7’s nationwide sales climbed to 10,814 in September, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, outpacing the Tesla Model 3, Ford Puma and Kia Sportage.

Rico Luman, senior sector economist for transport and logistics at ING, said the growing policy gap between Britain and the EU is leaving the U.K. with limited options, besides tariffs, if it wants to maintain a level playing field with the bloc.

Speaking to CNBC by email, Luman said exclusion from the Made in Europe initiative could have “significant consequences” for existing businesses, making closer alignment with EU trade policy increasingly difficult to avoid.

“It’s generally quite remarkable that batteries from China are exempted from EU tariffs,” Luman said.

“At the same time this is logical as production in Europe isn’t up to speed and Europe lacks the rare earth minerals and refinery capacity behind it,” he added.

Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which is investing in a historic U.S. oil refinery project proposed by President Donald Trump, has now emerged as the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude outside the U.S.

Trump has been pushing India to buy more Venezuelan oil, but while state-owned oil companies are making opportunistic purchases, Reliance has been the primary buyer, according to Kpler data shared with CNBC. It shows that outside the U.S., India is the biggest destination for these supplies, with Reliance purchasing the bulk of that crude.

“Reliance’s Jamnagar complex has been the main destination for Venezuelan crude in India, and we expect it to remain the primary buyer,” Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst at Kpler, told CNBC.

In September, India imported 257,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude, of which 76% went to Reliance Industries, data showed. The Jamnagar refinery is the world’s “largest and most complex single-site refinery” with crude processing capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day, according to Reliance.

Venezuelan heavy and extra-heavy grades of crude are relatively difficult barrels to process and are not universally suitable across India’s refining system, Ritola said, adding that the Jamnagar complex is particularly well configured for these barrels.

In March, Trump had announced that the U.S. will build its first refinery in 50 years with investment from India’s Reliance Industries. The president had thanked Reliance for this “tremendous investment.”

While Reliance has not confirmed the size of investment, Trump in a Truth Social post had said that “THIS IS A HISTORIC $300 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL — THE BIGGEST IN U.S. HISTORY.”

Reliance is the most valued company in India, with a market capitalization of more than $169 billion.

Reliance’s Venezuelan purchases come at a time when India’s procurement of Russian oil has drawn the ire of the U.S., where lawmakers have given Trump the power to impose up to 100% tariffs on countries buying energy from Moscow.

Despite mounting pressure to buy more energy from the U.S. and cut its dependence on Russian oil, the Indian government has insisted that its decisions are driven by the need to ensure energy security for its people.

While oil supplies in September from Russia to India have “moderated” from exceptionally high levels in June and July, that is largely driven by the stronger competition between Beijing and New Delhi and not the threat of tariffs, Ritolia said.

India is the largest destination for Russian crude, securing a supply of 1.82 million barrels per day in September versus China’s 1.49 mbd, according to Kpler data, much more than Venezuelan purchases.

For October, 350,000 barrels per day of crude supplies from Venezuela are bound for India, though some of these could land in November because of the long voyage time, Ritolia said.

AI agent startup Manus has raised more than $500 million in its first funding round since Meta was forced to abandon its acquisition of the company.

Butterfly Effect, Manus’ parent company, said Thursday that the round was led by private equity firm Boyu Capital and venture investor IDG Capital, with follow-on investment from existing shareholders Tencent, HSG and ZhenFund.

The company did not disclose its post-funding valuation. Bloomberg reported last month that Manus was set to double its valuation to $4 billion in this financing round, making it the country’s most valuable AI agent maker.

The raise suggests investors aren’t deterred by Beijing’s unprecedented order to block Meta’s short-lived $2 billion acquisition. Meta was working to integrate Manus’ team and technology into its system when authorities blocked the deal. It also shows that appetite for AI-agent startups has held up, even as the underlying foundation models improve quickly and price competition intensifies.

“The fundraising shows that the short-term fallout of the Meta case has been contained and investors are willing to back Manus as an independent company,” said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, also noting the renewed confidence in the commercial potential of AI agents.

Manus could ultimately aim for a public listing but the more imminent task would be revamping its business and ownership structure to prove profitability and align with Beijing’s regulatory requirement, analysts say.  

“The immediate task for Manus now is proving scale, profitability and regulatory alignment,” said Han Lin, China country director at The Asia Group.

Earlier this month, Manus said it had resumed independent operations after its split from Meta and that its founding team would continue to push forward generative AI agents for users globally.

Once seen as a blueprint for Chinese startups seeking global reach, Manus has become a cautionary tale for companies squeezed between regulators in Beijing and Washington.

The company launched in early 2025 in China, then moved its staff to Singapore after winning backing from U.S. venture firm Benchmark. Meta announced the acquisition in December. Chinese regulators later blocked it. The National Development and Reform Commission said it had decided to “prohibit foreign investment in the Manus project.” By then, Meta had begun integrating Manus’ team and technology into its own.

Since the split, the AI startup has unveiled Manus 2.0, built on a new in-house execution system called Cascade. It also launched Cue, a standalone personal-agent app in which each agent has its own email address, phone number, and mobile wallet.

Meta has pressed ahead with its own personal AI agent, launching its Muse agent in early September, modeled on the open-source AI agent OpenClaw.

The “close integration” with Manus “does not disappear when the transaction is reversed,” said Matthias Hendrichs, a Singapore-based adviser to global AI firms.

“You can separate companies, but you cannot make engineers forget what they learned.”