Eurozone inflation edges down.

Eurozone flash CPI has slipped to a 3 1/2 year low of +1.1% on year in September from +1.3% in August and come in below consensus of +1.2%. Food, alcohol and tobacco have experienced the highest rate of inflation, while energy prices have fallen. The CPI reading is well below the ECB's target of just under 2%, possibly giving the bank room to ease monetary policy further to help boost the eurozone's weak economy.

U.S. Italian political turmoil sends shares tumbling.

Equities were lower in most places around the world at the time of writing as the U.S. government headed for a shutdown and Italy's government faced collapse. However, European shares remained near five-year highs and are on course for their best quarter in two years. Gold, often a safe haven in times like these, was lower.

U.S.government shutdown increasingly likely.

The government is heading for a shutdown at midnight tonight after the Republican-led House yesterday voted to tie federal funding to a one-year delay to Obamacare and a repeal of a tax on medical devices. The Democrat-led Senate is due to meet today at 2 pm, when it's expected to reject the House measures. One option may be for Congress to pass legislation that would cover government financing for a few days and give the sides more time to negotiate.

Japanese core CPI hits five-year high.

 Japan's core CPI, which excludes fresh food, has increased to its highest level since November 2008, edging up to +0.8% on year in August from +0.7 in July. However, most of the increase was due to rising gasoline prices and the weaker yen, and CPI data that excludes energy as well as food remained negative with a drop of 0.1%. Still, prices of consumer-electronic equipment and other durable leisure goods increased for the first time since 1992.

Alibaba heads for U.S. IPO after HK negotiations stall

Alibaba reportedly plans to carry out its blockbuster IPO in the U.S. after negotiations with the Hong Kong stock exchange broke down over the e-commerce giant's demand that its "partners" - a group of founders and senior managers - maintain control over board composition. Listing in New York would enable Alibaba to issue shares that provide its partners with more voting power. The IPO could value Alibaba at up to $120B. That would be a boon to Yahoo (YHOO), which owns 24% in the Chinese company.

Leading EU banks need extra €70.4B in core capital.

The EU's top 42 banks need a further €70.4B ($95B) of capital to comply with Basel III core-capital regulations, the European Banking Authority estimates. The rules, which are due to take effect in 2019, require that banks hold a core-capital buffer of at least 7% of their assets on a risk-weighted basis. Banks will also need to maintain a leverage ratio of 3% of their total non risk-weighted assets from 2018. The shortfall for this requirement is €106.6B.

JP Morgan ''global deal" could reach up to $7B.

How badly does JPMorgan (JPM) just want all of this to go away? The bank is reportedly in talks to settle the myriad of investigations into its various dubious practices, with the NYT reporting that the company could pay $3-7B. JPMorgan has apparently offered $3B. Since 2011, the firm has agreed to pay a total of $5.4B in major settlements. The WSJ provides a tally of the significant agreements.