Spanish industry grows for first time in 2 1/2 years.

Spain continues to experience green shoots of recovery, with industrial output surprisingly rising 1.4% on year in September after falling 2.1% in August and beating consensus for a drop of 1.5%. The increase represents the first time that production has grown since February 2011 and adds to preliminary data showing that the economy emerged from recession in Q3.

Twitter to raise $1.82B at market cap of $14.2B.

Twitter (TWTR) is due to debut on the NYSE today after pricing its IPO at $26, above an already increased range of $23-$25. Twitter will raise $1.82B by selling 70M shares and it will have a market cap of $14.2B despite generating no profits. 

Eurozone business activity continues growing but loses momentum.

Eurozone composite PMI dropped to 51.9 in October from 52.2 in September and the services reading also declined, although overall business activity still grew for the fourth consecutive month. The surveys indicate a loss of momentum at the start of Q4, says Markit, raising "concerns that the upturn is faltering" and increasing the pressure on the ECB "to reinvigorate the recovery." Still, the economy is expanding across the board in Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

China HSBC services PMI ticks up in October.

The HSBC China services PMI edged up to 52.6 in October from 52.4 in September, which, says HSBC, "should help cement China's growth momentum in the coming months." Although the generally upbeat tone of the report is consistent with the October reading for the country's official non-manufacturing PMI, the two surveys differ over new orders, with HSBC more positive than the government.

U.K.'s services sector roars ahead.

U.K. services PMI leapt to its highest level in 16 years in October, rising to 62.5 from 60.3 in September. The data adds to strong manufacturing and construction surveys, helping to send the all-sector PMI to a record of 61.5 vs 60.2 a month earlier. The latest data is consistent with quarterly GDP growth of 1.3% and private-sector job creation of over 100,000 positions. The pound has taken a jump and was +0.5% at $1.6049 at the time of writing, although the FTSE was -0.6%.

EU cuts growth forecast for eurozone.

The European Commission has lowered its 2014 eurozone GDP forecast to 1.1% from a prediction in May of 1.2%, while it expects unemployment to remain high at 12.2% and inflation to remain low at 1.5%. The EC also estimates that the eurozone's economy will shrink 0.4% this year following a decline of 0.7% in 2012. The EC projects that Germany, Belgium, Estonia and Ireland will gain momentum in 2014, although it warned that Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal will experience much weaker growth.

Settlements & fines for US mortgage activities.

The repercussions of the subprime crisis in 2008 have continued to haunt banks until today. As today's chart shows, Bank of America has had to dole out the maximum amount in settlements and fines with respect to US mortgage activities in the last 5 years. JP Morgan Chase has recently agreed to pay a hefty settlement of US$ 13 bn to regulators thereby placing it second on the list. There was considerable murkiness in the whole subprime mortgage issue which involved a lot of shady financial products. And therefore it will be hardly be surprising if banks will be required to dole out more of such fines and settlements in the future.