1. Asian markets are up. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 1.41 per cent, followed by the Shanghai Composite, which is 0.48 per cent higher. Japan's Nikkei leads, up by 2.33 per cent.
2. China's small and medium-sized manufacturers had the worst month since 2009. In September, the index fell to 47.2 from 47.3 in August, with anything below 50 signalling shrinkage.
3. New consumer protection measures have come into force under the Consumer Rights Act. For the first time anyone who buys faulty goods will be entitled to a full refund for up to 30 days after the purchase.
4. Meat supplier Cranswick says sales in the six months to the end of September were 10 per cent ahead of the same period last year.
5. Eric van der Kleij is stepping down as head of London fintech hub Level39 after nearly 3 years in the job.
6. Volkswagen has confirmed that 1.2 million cars in the UK contain the software that was found to be falsifying emissions data in the US, including Audi, Seat, and Skoda brands.
7. Builder Sir Robert McAlpine is facing a £19.2 million court battle over alleged defects on housing development built as part of the high-profile Emirates Stadium redevelopment in north London.
8. SoftBank Group said it had led a $1 billion (£660.7 million) investment in US financial technology startup SoFi, calling it the largest single financing round in the fintech space to date.
9. Microsoft and Google have agreed to bury all patent infringement litigation against each other, the companies announced on Wednesday, settling 18 cases in the United States and Germany.
10. More than 110,000 people have signed a petition supporting Uber in London after the city proposed strict new rules for taxis that would adversely affect the ride-hailing company.
