What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Top 10 things to know

The market continued its upward journey for the sixth consecutive day on October 18 with the Nifty closing above 11,650 and the Sensex ending comfortably above the 39,000 mark.

Market breadth was in favour of advances as 1,567 shares advanced, 934 shares declined, while 178 shares remained unchanged. Midcap and smallcap indices outperformed the frontliners by more than 1.5 percent each.

According to the pivot charts, the key support level for the Nifty is placed at 11,581.77, followed by 11,501.73. If the index starts moving up, key resistance levels to watch out for are 11,713.27 and 11,764.73.

Nifty Bank closed with a gain of 130.8 percent at 29,120.25 on October 18. The important pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 28,906.36, followed by 28,692.53. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 29,291.76 and 29,463.33.

World stock indexes rose on Monday as signs of work to resolve the US-China trade war bolstered investor hopes, while the Canadian dollar strengthened in the hours before results of the election for prime minister.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 57.44 points, or 0.21%, to 26,827.64, the S&P 500 gained 20.52 points, or 0.69%, to 3,006.72 and the Nasdaq Composite added 73.44 points, or 0.91%, to 8,162.99.

Asian share markets edged ahead on Tuesday amid cheery chatter about the chance of a Sino-US trade deal, while investors were sanguine yet another vote on Brexit would still avert a hard exit.

Futures for Japan's Nikkei were trading flat at 22,700, compared to Monday's index close at 22,548. South Korean stocks rose 0.4%, while E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 were little changed.

Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the broader index in India, with a 0.38 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,656-level on the Singaporean Exchange.

Oil prices steadied a little on Tuesday, supported by signs of progress in talks on resolving the US-China trade dispute, but gains were contained by lingering anxiety a slowdown in the global economy could hurt crude demand.

Brent crude futures were at $59.10 a barrel by 0027 GMT, up 14 cents, or 0.2%, from their previous settlement. Brent settled down 0.8% at $58.96. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures advanced 18 cents, or 0.3%, from their last close to $53.49 per barrel.

China is seeking $2.4 billion (£1.9 billion) in retaliatory sanctions against the United States for non-compliance with a WTO ruling in a tariffs case dating to the Obama era, a document published on October 21 showed.

WTO appeals judges said in July that the United States did not fully comply with a WTO ruling and could face Chinese sanctions if it does not remove certain tariffs that break the watchdog's rules.

China, in its request posted by WTO, said: "In response to the United States' continued non-compliance with the (WTO Dispute Settlement Body's) recommendations and rulings, China requests authorization from the DSB to suspend concessions and related obligations at an annual amount of $2.4 billion."

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have infused a net sum of Rs 5,072 crore into the Indian capital markets in October so far amid the government's efforts to revive domestic demand. In the preceding month, FPIs had invested a net Rs 6,557.8 crore in the domestic capital markets (both equity and debt).

As per the latest depositories data, foreign investors put in a net sum of Rs 4,970 crore in equities and a net Rs 102 crore in the debt market during October 1-18, taking the cumulative net investment to Rs 5,072 crore.

India's Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on October 21 that the broad outline of a trade deal with the United States has been worked out and suggested there could be an announcement soon. The two countries have been locked in trade disputes for months, slapping higher tariffs on each other's products and the US withdrawing a key concession to India.

The collateral damage of the United States' trade wars is being felt around the world as President Donald Trump renegotiates relationships with many of Washington's top trading partners.

The International Monetary Fund on October 18 supported India's recent decision to reduce corporate income tax, saying it has a positive impact on investment. It, however, said India should address continued fiscal consolidation and secure long-term stability of the fiscal conditions.

"We believe India still has limited fiscal space so they have to be careful. We support their corporate income tax cut because it has a positive impact on investment," Changyong Rhee, Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF, told reporters at a news conference here.

The forex kitty continued to climb north, swelling by $1.879 billion to a new life-time high of $439.712 billion, in the week to October 11, the Reserve Bank said on October 18. The forex reserves had increased by a higher $4.24 billion to a new high of $437.83 billion in the previous reporting week.

For the week under review, the foreign currency assets, which are the biggest part of the reserves, increased by $2.269 billion to $407.88 billion, the RBI said.

Regulator Sebi on October 18 put in place stricter norms for auditors, including prompt disclosures about reasons for their resignation and requirement to approach chairman of audit committee directly in case of any concerns with management of the firm concerned. The norms have been issued against the backdrop of rising instances of auditors quitting companies as well as those of auditors coming under the scanner in connection with alleged financial irregularities at firms.

According to Sebi, resignation of an auditor of a listed entity before completion of the audit of financial results for the year due to reasons such as pre-occupation may seriously hamper investor confidence and deny them access to reliable information for taking timely investment decisions.

The Indian rupee has recovered from the low point of the day and ended marginal higher at 71.14 per dollar, with domestic equity market ended higher for the sixth consecutive session.

Rupee opened marginally lower at 71.19 per dollar versus previous close 71.16. The local currency touched at intra-day low of 71.30 per dollar.