News Live: Godrej Agrovet IPO draws heavy demand, oversubscribed 95 times

The category reserved for qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) was oversubscribed 155.17 times, non-institutional investors 238.68 times and retail investors 7.55 times, merchant banking sources said.

20:54 Falling for the second session, the rupee today depreciated by another 24 paise to end at 65.38 against the US dollar on persistent demand for the American currency from importers and banks.

Resurgent dollar overseas alongside continued capital outflows predominantly weighed on the local forex market, though a spectacular recovery rally in equity markets largely restricted the intensity of downtrend.

19:51 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is addressing the media after the 22nd GST Council meet today. For more, click here.

18:45 Zee Entertainment acquires 100 percent equity stake in 9X Media for Rs 160 crore

18:40 SEBI has defined companies as per market cap. First 100 companies in terms of full market capitalisation to be categorised as Large Cap. Mid Cap: 101st-250th company in terms of full market capitalisation. Small Cap: 251st company onwards in terms of full market capitalisation.

18:28 SEBI rolls out Mutual Funds reforms, sets 5 broad categories for MF Schemes - Equity schemes, debt schemes, Hybrid schemes, solution oriented schemes, and other schemes

18:14 The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, will be visiting Gujarat on 7th and 8th October, 2017.

On the morning of 7th October, the Prime Minister will visit the Dwarkadheesh Temple. At Dwarka, he will lay the Foundation Stones of a bridge between Okha and Beyt Dwarka; and other road development projects. He will address a public meeting.

From Dwarka, the Prime Minister will arrive in Chotila, in Surendranagar district. He will lay the Foundation Stones for a greenfield airport at Rajkot; six-laning of Ahmedabad-Rajkot National Highway; and four-laning of Rajkot-Morbi State Highway. He will also dedicate a fully automatic milk processing and packaging plant; and a drinking water distribution pipeline for Joravarnagar and Ratanpur area of Surendranagar. He will address a public meeting.

16:53 Shoppers Stop exits from the Duty Free Airport retail business, reports CNBC-TV18

16:45 Railways Minister Piyush Goyal tears into Kotak Panel's Corporate Governance report. He tells CNBC-TV18 that the report is completely off the mark and disagrees with the panel on the issue that only people with specialised knowledge must join listed companies' boards. Goyal is of the view that diversity of opinion must be encouraged. He also disagrees with point that company boards should decide on independent directors as boards could induct 'Yes Men', which would not be desirable.

16:16 India and the European Union today agreed to strengthen ties in key areas of trade and security after their 14th summit, during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top EU leadership deliberated extensively on bilateral, regional and international issues.

15:48 Drug firm Granules India said it has received Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for the OmniChem facility at Vizag, Andhra Pradesh. OmniChem facility is operated by 50:50 joint venture of Granules India and Ajinimoto OmniChem NV. The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued EIR for the company's OmniChem facility.

15:35 Godrej Agrovet IPO which opened on Wednesday for subscription got oversubscribed 59 times on the final day with 2 hours of bidding is still left. Its public offer is expected to raise up to Rs 1,157.31 crore at the upper end of the price band was subscribed 60.24 times as at 3 pm. The portion set aside for QIBs (qualified institutional buyers) was subscribed 98.12 times, the shares allocated to non-institutional investors got subscribed 141.95 times while the quantum reserved for retail investors was subscribed 6.25 times. The bids received for employee category stood at 0.70 times, as per the latest stock exchange data.

15:27 Hyundai Motor India launched its premium SUV Tucson with 4-wheel drive (4WD) system priced at Rs 25.19 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). The company has introduced 4WD system only in the top-end diesel variant of the model.

15:07 The Supreme Court refused to stay hearing over the AIADMK symbol row in the Election Commission of India, reports CNN-News18. Rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dinakaran had moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay and more time to file affidavits in the row. The court refused any respite to Dinakaran and asked the ECI to resume hearing in the case starting 4 PM on Friday. The Supreme Court also extended the deadline to dispose of the case till November 10. The Madras High Court had asked the ECI to decide on who gets the AIADMK's two-leaves symbol before the end of October.

14:51 Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asked him to explain reports of road construction activity by China in Doklam if he was done "thumping" his chest, reports PTI. Gandhi's comment comes a day after sources said China maintained a sizeable presence of troops near the site of the Doklam standoff with India and had started widening a road, around 12 km from the area of conflict.

14:42 The chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, said the award had been made in recognition of the group’s work “to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.

14:42 The Nobel Committee’s statement: “We emphasise that the next steps towards attaining a world free of nuclear weapons must involve the nuclear-armed states. The 2017 Peace Prize calls upon nuclear-armed states to initiate negotiations to gradual elimination of the world’s 15,000 nuclear weapons. ICAN has in the past year given the efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons a new direction and new vigour.”

14:29 The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. ICAN is a coalition of non-governmental organisations from around 100 different countries around the globe. It has been the leading civil society actor in the effort to achieve a prohibition of nuclear weapons under international law.

14:22 Tata Motors-owned Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) reported 6.6% increase in retail sales at 65,097 units in September as compared with the same month last year. The company said sales during the month grew on the back of continued solid sales of the F-PACE as well as the introduction of the Range Rover Velar, Jaguar XF Sportbrake and long wheel base Jaguar XFL in China. Retail sales were also up year-on-year in markets such as China and North America. However, the UK market witnessed a decline in sales, JLR said in a statement.

14:15 With the widening alcohol prohibition threatening to impact the country's tourism industry, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said it is not the states' business to decide what a tourist should eat and drink, reports PTI. "Indian states can't get into what a tourist want to eat and drink. Just not possible...what he wants to eat and drink is his individual business and not the states' business," he said. At least four states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Daman -- have announced plans to bar liquor sales, adding to the list that includes Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland and Manipur which are already dry.

14:07 Japan’s economy likely posted its equal second-best stretch of uninterrupted post-war growth, a government index for August showed on Friday, a nod to strong global demand and premier Shinzo Abe’s aggressive stimulus measures, reports Reuters. The latest reading comes as Abe heads to a general election later this month and puts his “Abenomics” policies in the spotlight.

However, despite the strong headline number, analysts say the benefits of growth have failed to reach broader sectors of the economy with generally anemic wages leaving households behind. The index of coincident economic indicators rose a preliminary 1.9 points to 117.6 in August from the previous month, the level seen in March 2014, the Cabinet Office said. This would mark 57 straight months of growth, matching the second-best stretch of expansion since World War II, seen between 1965 to 1970.

13:58 An earthquake measuring 6.3 struck off the eastern coast of Japan on Friday, the US Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The quake struck 300 km east of Iwaki, Honshu, at a depth of 77.8 km, USGS said.

13:51 Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services’ (Mahindra Finance) board has approved raising up to Rs 2,250 crore through issuance of shares or convertible securities.

13:48 The Bombay High Court castigated "so-called activists" for approaching it on the issue of safety of commuters only after the Elphinstone Road station stampede and asked why they woke up to the "serious and sensitive" issue only after the death of so many people, reports PTI. On September 29, a stampede on the stairwell of a narrow foot over bridge (FOB) at the station left 23 dead and over 30 injured.

Soon after the mishap, four public interest litigations (PILs) were filed in the high court seeking directions to the railways to take measures to ensure that such an incident is not repeated at any other railway station. The HC noted that only after so many people died that the activists realised and came up with petitions.

13:42 Intensifying its crackdown on black money, the government said it has collated information about 5,800 shell companies whose near zero-balance accounts saw nearly Rs 4,574 crore of deposits post note ban and Rs 4,552 crore withdrawal thereafter, reports PTI. "Vital information has been received from 13 banks regarding the bank account operations and post-demonetisation transactions of some of the 2,09,032 suspicious companies that had been struck off the Register of Companies earlier this year," the government said in a statement today.

13:40 The Supreme Court asked the Centre to respond to a plea challenging the legal provision that a death row convict would be hanged to death, reports PTI. The plea said that Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution also includes the right of a condemned prisoner to have a dignified mode of execution so that death becomes less painful.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud issued notice to the Centre and sought its response in three weeks on the PIL which referred to the 187th Report of the Law Commission against the present mode of execution. Lawyer Rishi Malhotra, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity, has also referred to various apex court judgements in which the practise of hanging a death row convict has been assailed.

13:15 The country's Aadhaar push has intensified further with the government making mandatory biometric identification Aadhaar for all post office deposits, Public Provident Fund  (PPF), the National Savings Certificate scheme and Kisan Vikas Patra. Exisiting depositors have been given time till December 31, 2017 to provide the 12-digit Aadhaar number. The Finance Ministry issued the directive in four separate gazette notifications, reports PTI.

12:56 AIADMK leader VK Sasikala has been granted a five-day parole to visit his ailing husband M Natarajan. The 74-year-old had underwent a dual organ transplant in Chennai on Tuesday. Sasikala had sought a 15-day parole. TTV Dinakaran, her nephew, had arrived at Bengaluru Central Jail for the parole hearing. The Tamil Nadu police issued NOC to the Karnataka government for Sasikala's parole.

12:31 The Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce the winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday. The committee, which is appointed by the Norwegian parliament, will select the winner from a pool of 318 known and reported candidates.

12:25 Devalue rupee or provide stimulus: India faces difficult choices in bid to boost growth. Ajay Bodke of Prabhudas Lilladher delves deeper

12:15 German industrial orders bounced back in August, rising more than expected on strong foreign demand, data showed on Friday, suggesting that factories will contribute to overall growth in Europe’s largest economy in coming months, reports Reuters. Factories registered a 3.6% increase in orders after contracts for ‘Made in Germany’ goods fell by an upwardly revised 0.4% in July, data from the Economy Ministry showed. The reading for August was the strongest monthly increase since December.

12:07 The National Company Law Tribunal dismissed the plea of ousted Tata Sons Chairman Cyrus Mistry seeking transfer of his case challenging the ouster to the New Delhi bench from Mumbai, reports PTI. The principal bench of the NCLT headed by Chairman Justice MM Kumar also imposed a cost of Rs 10 lakh on Mistry's two investment firms, which would be shared by both.

12:05 The Supreme Court put some searching questions on a plea seeking reopening of the investigation into the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, reports PTI. After a brief hearing, a bench comprising Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao appointed senior advocate and former additional solicitor general Amrender Sharan as amicus curiae to assist the court in the matter.

11:43 Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif warned India against carrying out surgical strike or targeting its nuclear installations, saying if that happens nobody should expect restraint from his country, reports PTI. Referring to the statement of India's Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa that the Indian armed forces are ready for a full spectrum operation, Asif said Pakistan wants to live in peace and harmony with its neighbours. But if India carries out any surgical strike in Pakistan or strikes at its nuclear installations "nobody should expect restraint from us", he warned.

11:41 Five Dera Sacha Sauda supporters in police custody have claimed that Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh's 'adopted' daughter Honeypreet Insan had masterminded and funded the August 25 violence in Panchkula, reports CNN-News18. In their statement, the supporters said that Honeypreet provided funding to the sect's supporters in Panchkula and sanctioned Rs 1.25 crore ahead of verdict day. She chaired the meeting on August 17 in Sirsa to plan the violence.

11:24 Former General Secretary of AIADMK VK Sasikala may get parole at 12 noon, reports CNN-News18. She is likely to stay at 181 Habibullah Road T Nagar, Chennai when she is released on parole. Disputed AIADMK Deputy General TTV Dhinakaran decided to apply for 15 days parole to Sasikala after consulting with her brother Dhivakaran last week. The reason given was that Sasikala's husband M Natarajan was in a critical condition admitted to Global Hospital in Chennai. The given reason does allow jail authorities to grant parole to Sasikala as she was not convicted for hard crimes like murder.

11:04 Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz brought 1,500 people, a golden escalator and his own carpets on his historic, four-day state visit to Russia, reports Bloomberg. The 81-year-old leader of the Gulf kingdom exited his plane late Wednesday and stepped out onto the special escalator he travels with. But something went wrong: It malfunctioned halfway down, and he had to walk the rest of the way. A cavalcade of cars sped the monarch to the center of the city, flanked by Russian police escorts.

A Saudi plane is traveling daily between Riyadh and Moscow to transport supplies, with 800 kg of food has been brought in. Members of the royal entourage also replaced some of the hotel staff with their own personnel, who know exactly how they like their coffee made. King Salman, who’s staying at the Four Seasons, also came with his own furniture. The Saudi government booked two entire luxury hotels for the visit: the Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons.

10:52 Billionaire Adi Godrej sees India's economic growth rate, which has seen a dismal run, turning around much sooner than most expect, reports CNBC. "I expect that GDP growth rate will catch up in the July-September quarter, and it will be very good in the second half of the year," said Adi Godrej, the chairman of consumer goods conglomerate Godrej Group and reported possessor of a $2.8 billion net-worth.

10:36An Indian Air Force MI17 V5 chopper with seven on board has crashed in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, reports CNN-News18. The crash occurred at 6:30am today and resulted in the death of all personnel on board.

10:30 How did Xi Jinping go from being a provincial politician to China's paramount leader in such a short period of time? Bloomberg looks at the life of China's 7th President and his campaign against dissent.

10:09 A group of HSBC Holdings currency traders in London and New York feverishly jumped ahead of a $3.5 billion client order after they were tipped off using the code words "my watch is off," a US prosecutor told a federal judge. The buying frenzy was launched after Mark Johnson, HSBC’s former global head of foreign exchange who the bank chose to lead the transaction, alerted the traders via phone call that was recorded, reports Bloomberg. Johnson is on trial for fraud.

09:46 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running out of time to turn around India’s $2.3 trillion economy before impending elections, leaving the party reliant on "good marketing" to win over voters, a former Indian finance minister and member of the ruling party told Bloomberg. India’s cash ban and the "poorly planned" implementation of a national sales tax have slowed growth, hurt job creation and will threaten Modi’s administration in upcoming state and federal polls, Yashwant Sinha, finance minister under former Bharatiya Janata Party Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said.

With both businesses and farmers suffering, Modi will face voters who are angry about the lack of job growth, Sinha said in his home just outside New Delhi, noting the prime minister will "have to take the entire blame" himself. "We will be judged by the promises we made," he said. "They’re backslapping each other and convincing the people that everything is hunky-dory. But let’s see what the people think."

09:30 China has approved HP’s $1.1 billion purchase of Samsung Electronics’ printer business with certain restrictions, citing concerns about the US firm’s dominance of the domestic laser printer market, reports Reuters. HP announced the deal in September 2016, hoping to disrupt the $55 billion copier market by focusing on multifunction printers and more deeply embedding mobile and cloud printing technologies to its product solutions.

09:21 China has issued a travel advisory to its nationals visiting India, the first such warning after the Dokalam standoff, warning them about denial of visas to visit "restricted areas" like the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, reports PTI. The Chinese Embassy in India issued the advisory, the third in four months, for Chinese tourists in India. The warning was posted on the embassy's website on Tuesday, and detailed several situations the embassy handled recently in which Chinese tourists were denied entry or investigated while travelling in India.

09:10 Which stocks are on the wish-list of foreign and domestic brokerages today, click here to find out

09:07 Tencent Holdings is fast becoming one of the most influential and closely-watched investors in India’s internet business, as the Chinese giant looks to diversify outside its home market and match arch-rival Alibaba Group Holding in building a presence in India, reports Mint. So far, Tencent has invested $850-900 million in Indian start-ups, including $700 million in Flipkart. Tencent first invested in Indian start-ups in August 2015, when it led a $90 million round in digital health platform Practo Technologies Pvt. Its other investment is messaging app Hike. The company is also in advanced talks to invest $400-500 million in Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt).

08:58 Nearly 150,000 direct and indirect jobs in India's debt-ridden and loss-making telecom sector face "clear and present danger" of corporate downsizing, reports IANS. At present, the sector is burdened with astronomical debt -- nearly Rs 8 lakh crore by some estimates due to a slew of freebies which are being doled out by incumbent telecom players to retain their customer base.

08:51 Advent International and Temasek-backed Crompton Greaves and homegrown PE fund Everstone Capital are competing to acquire home appliances brand Kenstar in the final leg of the deal, reports The Economic Times. Both have submitted binding offers and are in negotiations with the Dhoot’s of Videocon to enter into exclusive talks.

08:46 To know what to expect in the market today watch video here

08:27 Australia, a commodity superpower asks what if India is the next China? India has the potential to boost consumption of everything from copper to iron ore as its economy expands over the next two decades and more people flock to its cities, according to projections from the Australian government that try to fathom whether the country will emulate China, reports Bloomberg.

08:21 China is pumping money into countries around India, but there are ways New Delhi can hit back. India must play to its strengths instead of attempting to match Chinese capital, a panel of experts at the World Economic Forum's India summit said in response to CNBC's question on the topic.

08:14 MAS Financial Services' initial share sale offer is set to open for subscription today with a price band of Rs 456-459 per share. Here are 10 things you should know about the issue

08:07 Kishore Biyani's Future Retail is set to acquire Shoppers Stop's loss making supermarket chain HyperCity for over Rs 650 crore. HyperCity will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Future Retail once the deal is completed in the next three to five months.

08:02 Uday Kotak-led Sebi committee on corporate governance has submitted its report. The committee has recommended splitting of roles of Chairman and MD-CEO for listed companies. It has also suggested that independent directors should make up at least half of every company's board and should attend at least half of board meets. A minimum of six independent directors, including at least one woman director, should be appointed on the board of a listed company.

A formal induction is mandatory for every new independent director. The committee has proposed disclosure of the expertise of the directors being appointed, increasing the number of board meetings from four to five every year and capping the maximum number of directorships to seven by April 2020. The market regulator has sought public comments on the report and has set November 4 as the deadline for the same.

07:51 All eyes will be on the crucial GST Council meet today, which is likely to be chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. The government also plans to introduce slew of measures to reduce the compliance burden for small taxpayers struggling under the country's new indirect tax system, the Goods & Services Tax (GST) that was rolled out from July 1.

The GST Council may clear quarterly returns for small businesses. Also, the reverse charge mechanism may be deferred till March and registration for composition scheme reopened for the third time to March 31, 2018. The Council may also hasten tax refunds for exporters battling cash crunch and allow export refund via an e-wallet. Also on the agenda, is exemption from any retrospective enquiry into the previous value-added tax regime tax matters.

07:41 China has maintained a sizeable presence of its troops near the site of the Dokalam standoff with India and even started widening an existing road which is at a distance of around 12 km from the area of conflict, reports PTI. China has been slowly increasing its troop level in the Dokalam Plateau which could further escalate the current situation as India has reasons to be concerned over it. An existing road is also being strengthened in the Dokalam plateau, adding the road is at a distance of around 12 km from the earlier face-off site.

07:39 Britain and the European Union plan to send a letter to the rest of the World Trade Organization’s 164 members next week, setting out Brexit plans that have already been rejected by seven key agricultural exporters, trade officials said. Britain is a member of the WTO in its own right but it has to establish its own distinct membership terms as part of its withdrawal from the European Union, reports Reuters.

07:38 Growth in the number of workers hired in Britain via recruitment agencies slowed last month and fell in London for the first time in nearly a year as Brexit makes it harder for companies to find staff, reports Reuters. The IHS Markit/Recruitment and Employment Confederation said permanent roles filled by recruitment firms rose at the weakest pace in five months.

07:36 British new car registrations on Thursday appeared on course for their first annual fall since 2011 after a 9.3% tumble in September, a month which normally accounts for around 15% of demand, reports Reuters. Sales were hurt by business and political uncertainty as Britain prepares to leave the EU and confusion over government plans on diesel and petrol cars, which could include new levies or restrictions, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. Sales totalled 426,170 vehicles with demand falling across the board, SMMT data showed, leaving year-to-date registrations down 3.9%.

07:33 British shops enjoyed their biggest jump in sales in more than three years in September, a survey of the retail sector showed, suggesting consumers are finding ways to cope with the squeeze on their incomes, reports Reuters. Accountancy firm BDO said its High Street Sales Tracker found overall like-for-like store sales rose by an annual 2.9%, adding to a smaller rise in August. However, the increase was distorted by weak sales in September 2016, suggesting underlying growth remained slow.

07:29 A new party led by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said it hopes to pursue policies to revive the economy that do not rely excessively on fiscal and monetary stimulus steps in a party platform unveiled ahead of a national election on October 22, reports Reuters. Koike’s Party of Hope said it would seek to boost Japan’s potential growth through deregulation in a package of measures dubbed “Yurinomics”.

Taxing companies’ huge cash-pile and using the proceeds to create jobs would be among its proposed steps, along with increasing capital expenditure and revitalising Japan’s stock market. The party, which is challenging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition, also vowed to end nuclear power by 2030 amid public safety worries after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

07:27 Gold was steady on Friday ahead of key US jobs data later in the day, with prices curbed as the dollar stood firm near a seven-week high.

07:26 Oil markets opened cautiously in Asia on Friday as traders monitored a tropical storm heading for the Gulf of Mexico and as China remained closed for a week-long public holiday. But the prospect of extended oil production cuts led by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) helped support prices.

07:23 Asian stocks rose on Friday after optimism over US tax reform plans lifted Wall Street shares to new highs, while the dollar hovered near a seven-week peak following additional indications of solid economic growth. Japan's Nikkei climbed 0.3%, Australian stocks rose 0.7% and South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.9%. The SGX Nifty is currently trading 23 points higher.

07:22 The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, but the continued impact of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma on the data made it difficult to get a clear picture of the labour market, reports Reuters. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 260,000 for the week ended September 30, the Labour Department said. Other data on Thursday pointed to underlying economic strength despite the weather-related disruptions. The trade deficit narrowed in August as exports of goods and services rose to more than a 2-1/2-year high.

07:17 President Donald Trump is expected to announce soon that he will decertify the landmark international deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, in a step that potentially could cause the 2015 accord to unravel, reports Reuters. A senior administration official said Trump is also expected to roll out a broader US strategy on Iran that would be more confrontational.

07:14 New orders for US-made goods rose in August and orders for core capital goods were stronger than previously reported, suggesting robust business spending could help offset some of the economic drag of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, reports Reuters. Factory goods orders increased 1.2% as demand for a range of goods rose, the Commerce Department said on Thursday. Orders fell by an unrevised 3.3% in July.

07:12 Congressional Republicans moved to hasten an overhaul of the US tax code on Thursday, while Federal Reserve officials warned in rare public remarks that President Donald Trump’s tax plan could lead to inflation and unsustainable federal debt, reports Reuters. In a procedural step forward, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved by a 219-206 vote a fiscal 2018 spending blueprint to help advance an eventual tax bill.

The blueprint contains a legislative tool that would let Republicans pass a tax bill by a simple majority vote in the Senate, where they hold 52 of 100 seats, allowing them to bypass Democrats. Separately, the Senate Budget Committee approved its own budget resolution and sent it to the full Senate for a vote, expected after October 16.

07:11 The S&P 500 posted its sixth straight record high close on Thursday, its longest run since 1997, as investors cheered increased prospects for a tax overhaul with Congress moving closer to agreement on a budget resolution, reports Reuters. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 113.75 points, or 0.5%, to close at 22,775.39, while the S&P 500 gained 14.33 points, or 0.56%, to 2,552.07. The Nasdaq Composite added 50.73 points, or 0.78%, to 6,585.36. The S&P 500 has closed higher for the last eight sessions, and posted record closes for the last six, the longest such run since an eight-day streak in June 1997.

07:03 After discussing Iran and North Korea with US military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm.” What storm? “You’ll find out,” Trump told questioning reporters, reports Reuters.

Earlier in the evening, while seated with the top defence officials in the cabinet room, Trump talked about the threat from North Korea and preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. “In North Korea, our goal is denuclearisation,” he said. “We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation or our allies with unimaginable loss of life. We will do what we must do to prevent that from happening. And it will be done, if necessary, believe me.”