What changed for the market while you were sleeping? Here are 20 things to know

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies:

Dow Jones pierces 23,000, gains 0.18%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly broke above the 23,000-point mark for the first time on Tuesday, driven by strong earnings but finished the session just below that milestone. The Index rose 40.48 points, or 0.18 percent, to end at 22,997.44, a record closing high.

The S&P 500 gained 1.72 points, or 0.07 percent, to 2,559.36, also a record high close. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.35 point, or 0.01 percent, to 6,623.66, Reuters reported.

Asia markets mixed, Nikkei trades flat

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index was flat in early trade after posting gains for the 11th straight session on Tuesday. The Kospi tacked on 0.11 percent as retailers and automakers notched gains while the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.21 percent, CNBC reported.

SGX Nifty

The Nifty50 futures on the Singapore Stock Exchange were trading 41.50 points lower at 10220 indicating a negative opening for the domestic market.

Currently 'not interested in diplomacy' with the US: North Korea

North Korea will be interested in negotiating with the US only after its missiles are capable of reaching mainland US. As per a report by the CNN, an official from Pyongyang made it clear that the North Korean regime will be interested in using the diplomatic option only after achieving an offensive capability.

Wipro Q2 profit up 5.5%, Bajaj Auto's fall 0.6%

Wipro said its consolidated net profit increased 5.5 percent sequentially to Rs 2,191.7 crore for quarter ended September 2017. Consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter fell 1.4 percent quarter-on-quarter to Rs 13,468.7 crore due to more than 50 percent fall in IT products business. For Q3FY18, Wipro expects revenues from IT services business to be in the range of USD 2,014-2,054 million, a growth of 0-2 percent over Q2.

Bajaj Auto's Q2 profit fell 0.6 percent year-on-year to Rs 1,193.58 crore. Revenue from operations grew by 2 percent to Rs 6,566.4 crore compared with Rs 6,432.3 crore in same quarter last fiscal, impacted by sales growth.

Axis Bank reports NPA divergences of Rs 5633 cr

Axis Bank witnessed pain in the asset quality due to divergences of about Rs 5633 crore worth of non-performing assets (NPAs) classified by the Reserve Bank of India. The gross NPAs, including the divergences, jumped 67 percent to Rs 27,402 crore from Rs 16,379 crore and net NPAs nearly doubled to Rs 14,052 crore from Rs 7761 crore a year ago.

SEBI bans Sanghi Plantations, directors from capital markets

SEBI on Tuesday barred Sanghi Plantations and its five directors from the capital markets for illegally garnering money from the public in the name of "teak plantation" scheme.

Sebi has also barred Shreysth Production Industries Ltd and its seven former and present directors from the securities market for at least four years and directed them to refund the money collected illegally from the public, PTI reported.

MAS Financial to debut on October 18

MAS Financial Services is set to debut on exchanges on October 18. The issue price is fixed at higher end of price band of Rs 456-459 per share. Analysts expect the stock to list with a premium of Rs 150-200, given the strong subscription to the issue and strong financials of the company.

Mutual fund assets jump close to 30% in Sep

Mutual funds' assets under management (AUM) grew at a healthy 29.13 percent at Rs 20.40 trillion in September, up from Rs 15.8 trillion a year ago. Total net outflow in September stood at Rs 16,604 crore with the maximum outflow of Rs 50,090 crore witnessed in the income category, PTI reported.

Muthoot Pappachan Group plans IPO for MFI arm

Kerala-based Muthoot Microfin, a subsidiary of the gold loan player Muthoot Fincorp, is planning an IPO in 2019. The company said the IPO will to support expansion of our microfinance business we are preparing ourselves for an IPO. As of Tuesday the company is the fourth largest MFI, PTI reported.

Govt may stick to fiscal deficit goal, step up bank reforms: PMEAC

Surjit Bhalla, a member of PMEAC, said that the government had stuck to its deficit targets over the past three years and is expected to do so this year as well. He said growth could be close to 6.5 percent for FY18, though it is lower than the central bank’s latest estimate of 6.7 percent, Livemint reported.

Indian, foreign entities can act as trading members on IFSC exchanges: Sebi

Sebi on Tuesday said Indian and foreign entities can set-up a company in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) to act as trading members of stock exchanges. The same rule will be applicable to such entity keen on operating as clearing member of a clearing corporation in IFSC, PTI reported.

Six companies to report results for quarter ended September

Only 6 companies are scheduled to report rsults for quarter ended September including the likes of AGI Infra, Alfred Herbert, Chemo Pharma, NIIT Technologies, SIL Investments, and UltraTech Cement.

Fund managers’ allocation to emerging market equities dips in Oct: BofA-ML

Emerging markets are increasingly going out of favour among fund managers, shows a survey from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Global fund managers’ allocation to emerging market equities fell to a net 41 percent overweight in October from 47 percent a month ago, Livemint reported.

Government plans flat 12% GST on all restaurants

Eating out in air-conditioned comfort could get cheaper if a proposal to fix the goods and services tax (GST) at a flat 12 percent on all restaurants is adopted by the GST Council. "It has been felt that the restaurants have not passed on the benefit of input tax credit to consumers," a government official said, as reported by The Economic Times.

Diwali Muhurat trading from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on October 19

BSE and the NSE said they will conduct a special Muhurat trading session on Thursday, October 19. The Muhurat trading, which is conducted to mark Diwali, will be held between 6.30pm and 7.30pm, the stock exchanges said. The pre-opening session will start at 6.15pm, Livemint reported.

NSE bans 7 companies from Wednesday's trade

The National Stock Exchange has informed that the derivative contracts of BEML, Dewan Housing Finance,Infibeam, Jaiprakash Associates, JSW Energy and Reliance Communications have crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit and are currently in the ban period.

Sebi slaps Rs 4 lakh fine on 15 individuals

Sebi on Tuesday imposed a penalty of Rs 4 lakh on 15 former and present promoters of Moschip Semiconductor Technology for not complying with disclosure norms. The 15 promoter entities have violated the provisions of Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers Regulations for the financial years 2011-2012 and 2012-2013, Sebi said in an order, PTI reported.

Rupee tanks 28 paise to 65.02 against dollar

The rupee closed at 65.03, its first loss in seven days against the dollar, as the local currency tanked 0.47 percent from its Monday’s close of 64.72 on fresh bouts of demand for the American currency amid renewed Fed rate hike fears, PTI reported.

Gold prices inch up from one-week low

Gold prices inched up on Wednesday from a one-week low with the dollar holding steady, but speculation that President Donald Trump might pick a policy hawk to lead the US Federal Reserve weighed on the metal, Reuters reported.