OK, time for a brisk recap.

1) America’s economy is performing even better than expected; growth in the last quarter has been revised up to a 3.2% annual rate, from 2.9%. Consumer spending, investment and exports all helped to push GDP up.

Analysts say the figures show the US is in fairly robust shape, making a December interest rate rise even more likely.

2) There’s deadlock in Vienna tonight, as Opec ministers struggle to make headway towards a deal to cut production.

Iran has thrown down the gauntlet, saying it will not reduce its output and suggesting Saudi Arabia takes the hit itself.

The oil price has slumped by 3.5% tonight, as the markets prepare for tomorrow’s Opec meeting.

3) Investors are bracing for volatility as Italy heads to the polls on Sunday to vote on PM Matteo Renzi’s constitutional reforms.

ECB sources have hinted that they would use their QE programme to stabilise the markets on Monday, if the public vote No -- a move that could prompt Renzi’s resignation.

Adam Chester, head of economics for commercial banking at Lloyds Bank, predicts turbulence if Renzi loses (as seems likely):

Italy is being asked whether to accept a broad package of measures aimed at making the country’s gridlocked political system more efficient and its government more stable.

It has had more than 60 governments since the Second World War, so one might think that measures to improve stability would be strongly welcomed.

But a key implication of the proposed changes is that incumbents would have far more power, which is strongly resisted by opposition parties, and there is a clear risk that the people will vote against the government, particularly given the weakness of Italy’s economy.

If the referendum is not passed – and the polls suggest a ‘No’ win – Prime Minister Renzi could step down, leading to early elections and boosting the anti-EU Five Star Movement (M5S), which has pledged a referendum on whether Italy should stay in the euro.

If Italy votes ‘No’, the euro is likely to come under immediate downward pressure and contagion could also see government bond and credit spreads across much of Europe rise.

4) Companies have been teaming up with charities for Giving Tuesday:

That’s probably all for today. Tomorrow will be extra-busy, with Bank of England stress test results released at 7am GMT, and Opec’s meeting running through the day. See you then. Goodnight! GW

Italy’s stock market has defied worries about Sunday’s referendum to close 2% higher.

The FTSE MIB index outperformed the rest of Europe, helped by that Reuters report that the ECB would step in to stabilise the markets next week, if needed.

The German, French, and Spanish indices also finished the day higher,

But the FTSE 100 lost 27 point, or 0.4%, to finish at 6772 - dragged down by energy companies including BP (-2.1%) and Shell (-2%).

City traders haven’t been impressed by the lack of progress at Opec’s meeting in Vienna today:

Joshua Mahoney of IG says:

Despite an initial consensus, a deal feels as far away as ever, with members continuing to conduct an intricate game of political poker, utilising the media to further their cause. It is becoming increasingly evident that some of the more prominent OPEC members care more about holding on to market share than helping raise the price of oil.

Hence despite agreeing to a production cut, we have seen the likes of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran all continue to raise production.

Meanwhile in Greece... Athens has received an unexpected boost ahead of next week’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers (the eurogroup).

Our correspondent Helena Smith reports.

The Dutch finance minister and eurogroup head Jeroen Dijsselbloem has not always batted for Greece but today he came out firmly in favour of Athens’ longstanding argument that primary surplus targets set by international creditors in the years ahead are simply unachievable.

Addressing the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee, the Dutchman suggested it would be counter-productive if Greece was given unrealistic fiscal targets once its current bailout program expires in 2018.

“We need to be realistic” he said adding that it would be a big ask if Athens was made to pull off the herculean task of achieving a 3.5% primary surplus when its fiscal adjustment program was finally completed.

Djisselbloem’s comments come in the wake of similar optimism expressed by visiting European Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici.

Conducting a two-day visit to Athens ahead of next week’s euro group, the Frenchman also voiced support for the leftist-led government’s bid to secure debt relief saying reprofiling of the unustainable load should also begin by year’s end.

At over €300bn, or 180% of GDP, Greece’s debt burden is the biggest in Europe and widely viewed as the root of its financial woes. But demands for more austerity still loom large and could threaten to overturn economic progress in the months ahead.

After the excesses of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, British business has been showing its charitable side today.

For the third year running, voluntary bodies have been working with companies to encourage people to give money, or time, to good causes - from cancer charities to Syrian aid.

Some 1,500 UK-based businesses and charities are taking part this year, including BT - which hosted an event at its iconic Tower this morning - Royal Mail, Royal Bank of Scotland, and several retailers including Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, and the Co-op.

The idea started in the 2012 in America, and last year, it raised over $45m worldwide.

The Charities Aid Foundation is co-ordinating it in the UK. They’ve sent some details over:

• A choir of MPs singing Christmas carols on College Green to raise money to support the work of doctors in Aleppo, as part of the Singing for Syrians appeal. MPs taking part included Victoria Prentis, Will Quince, Robert Buckland, Andrea Jenkyns and Eilidh Whiteford. Pictures are available on request.
  
• Great British Bake Off winner Candice Brown appearing in a video for Paypal, promoting its offer to add £1 to Cancer Research UK donations over £10 made using Paypal.
  
• Staff at Marie Curie UK writing personalised thank you letters to their supporters.
  
• Checkout staff at Morrisons wearing #givingtuesday stickers today and encouraging customers to top up their shop with a charitable donation.
  
• eBay launching a pop up #givingtuesday shop to raise money for a number of good causes.
  

CAF’s Hannah Terrey has written about it for us here:

And there’s a new-fangled Twitter Moment too....

These latest comments out of Vienna show that Iraq and Iran are at odds with Saudi Arabia over the proposed Opec output cut.

The hardline stance from Iran’s Zangenah shows that Tehran is not willing to curb its own output. The situation is complicated; there’s no real agreement on how much Iran is actually pumping today!

So Saudi Arabia are effectively being challenged to swallow the output cut themselves, while other cartel members would simply benefit from the resulting higher prices.

Here’s Reuters’ latest dispatch from the Opec HQ:

OPEC sources told Reuters a meeting of experts in Vienna on Monday failed to bridge differences between OPEC’s de factol eader, Saudi Arabia, and the group’s second- and third-largest producers over the mechanics of output cuts.

“We will leave the level of production (where) we decided in Algeria,” Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh told reporters upon arrival in Vienna, effectively signalling he was not prepared to reduce output.

OPEC, which accounts for a third of global oil production, agreed in September to cap output at around 32.5-33.0 million barrels per day versus the current 33.64 million bpd to prop up oil prices, which have halved since mid-2014.

OPEC said it would exempt Iran, Libya and Nigeria from cutsas their output has been crimped by unrest and sanctions.

The deal was seen as a victory for Iran. Tehran has long argued it wants to raise production to regain market share lost under Western sanctions, when its political arch-rival SaudiArabia increased output.

In recent weeks, Riyadh offered to cut its own output by 500,000 barrels per day, according to OPEC sources, and suggested Iran limit production at around 3.8 million bpd - in line with or slightly above the country’s current output. But Tehran has sent mixed signals including that it wanted to produce 4.2 million bpd.

There is high drama in Vienna, where Iran’s oil minister has declared that his country will NOT cut oil production.

Bijan Namdar Zanganeh told a heaving throng of oil reporters that Iran would stick to the production levels set earlier this year, and would not accept any output cuts.

That’s a blow to Opec’s chances of finalising a deal to cut production levels at tomorrow’s official meeting in Vienna.

And Bloomberg is now reporting that Saudi will reject a deal, unless Iran and Iraq agree to a compromise

These comments have sent the Brent crude oil price plunging by over 3% to 46.51 per barrel, down over 1.5 dollars.

The press scrum also sent a vase flying to the floor of Opec’s hotel foyer -- the second broken vase in as many days!

As we covered earlier, Indonesia’s oil minister had also told reporters that he’s not optimistic about a deal this week.

FXTM Research Analyst Lukman Otunuga says traders aren’t confident either:

Reports of Russia not attending the OPEC gathering has dented hopes of a meaningful deal while concerns of Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia failing to bridge their differences continues to encourage sellers to attack oil.

Today’s growth figures are a sign that America has recovered from a slow start to 2016, says the FT’s Adam Samson.

The data released on Tuesday confirm that the economy expanded in the third quarter at the fastest rate in two years, representing a sharp pick-up from the 0.8 per cent and 1.4 per cent pace logged in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Consumption growth, a key element of US economic output, was revised higher to a 2.8 per cent pace, from the previous reading of 2.1 per cent.

FT: US GDP revision confirms strengthening recovery

The Wall Street Journal is impressed by the pick-up in corporate profits:

Tuesday’s report also showed that a key measure of U.S. corporate profits increased for the third consecutive quarter. Profits after tax, without inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rose 3.5% from the second quarter to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.694 trillion in the third quarter.

Compared with a year earlier, after-tax profits rose 5.2% last quarter, the strongest annual reading since the fourth quarter of 2012.

WSJ: US GDP Growth Revised Up to Strongest Expansion in Two Years

Christopher Vecchio of DailyFX reckons growth will continue to accelerate in the current quarter.

Breaking! America’s economy grew even faster than expected in the last three months.

US GDP rose by an annualised rate of 3.2% in the July to September quarter, up from the first estimate of 2.9%, according to new data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

This is the fastest growth rate since the third quarter of 2014, thanks to stronger consumer spending, exports (especially soybeans!) and federal government spending.

That equates to a quarterly expansion of around 0.8% - which means America comfortably outpaced Britain, which only grew by 0.5%, and Germany and France (which both grew by a mere 0.2%).

The Commerce Department says:

The acceleration in real GDP in the third quarter primarily reflected an upturn in private inventory investment, an acceleration in exports, an upturn in federal government spending, and smaller decreases in state and local government spending and residential fixed investment, that were partly offset by a deceleration in PCE (personal consumption), an acceleration in imports, and a deceleration in nonresidential fixed investment.

Italian government bonds are strengthening, on the back of that report that the ECB would step in if the public reject Renzi’s constitutional changes on Sunday.

The yield, or interest rate, on its 10-year debt has dropped to 1.97%, down from 2.06% earlier. That means investors see the bonds as less risky.

And bank stocks are pushing higher too; up 2.4%.

Eric Lascelles, chief economist at RBC Global Asset Management, argues that Sunday’s vote won’t trigger a major crisis.

While there is the possibility of a slippery slope involving a snap election, a victory by the Eurosceptic Five Star Movement and then very real questions about Italy’s ongoing membership in the Eurozone, it is more likely that an election is averted, with a good chance that Renzi will be reappointed as Prime Minister.

Even in the context of an election, it isn’t clear that the Five Star Movement would be able to govern by itself. In the less likely scenario that the referendum passes, this would enable the Italian government to move more briskly on many much-needed structural economic reforms.

Newsflash from America: Jewellery chain Tiffany & Co has admitted that its flagship store in New York has suffered from being sited next to Donald Trump’s headquarters.

Tiffany has told shareholders that it has suffered “some adverse effect on traffic”, due to “recent election-related activity” near its New York store.

That store is on the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street, adjacent to Trump Tower, meaning access has been affected by the protests against the president-elect.

Tiffany also warns that it can’t provide any assurance that sales won’t suffer in the crucial Christmas period, or beyond.

However, it also emphasises that the store provides less than 10% of its net sales.

Tiffany describes its New York shop as “simply the most famous store there is” -- partly thanks to the exploits of Ms Holly Golightly. But it now finds itself right next to a massive security operation.

Concrete barriers have been erected outside Trump Tower, and armed police are posted outside, at a reported cost of $1m per day.

Security is likely to be extremely tight on 5th Avenue throughout Trump’s tenure as president, depending how much time he spends at the Tower. His wife Melania, and son Barron, are expected to stay there until at least the end of the school year, and will require constant protection.

The New York Daily News reported two weeks ago that the US secret service wants to close 5th Avenue down when the president is in situ, which would clearly be bad news for local shops.

And the New York Post reports that local restaurants have suffered from falling sales.

Willie Degel, founder of Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse on 56th Street and Sixth Avenue, fumed:

“It has been a complete nightmare. Pedestrian foot traffic is down tremendously. Everybody in the area is suffering.”

The good news for Tiffany’s is that worldwide net sales increased 1% in the last three months. Here’s its third-quarter results.

The oil price is sliding as Opec members struggle to reach an accord before Wednesday’s make-or-break meeting.

Indonesia’s energy minister has sparked the selloff, by telling reporters in Vienna that he’s “not optimistic” that the cartel will agree a supply cuts deal tomorrow.

Brent crude is currently down almost one dollar per barrel at $47.37, a 1.8% decline.

Indonesia are only a small player, but traders are clearly desperate for any smoke signals from the Opec HQ.

The success, or failure, of Opec’s meeting appears to depend on Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

Analysts reckon that the authorities in Tehran and Baghdad has hoped that Riyadh would swallow the proposed output cuts itself, allowing them to keep pumping.

But Saudi are taking a harder line -- even though their economy is suffering badly from the low oil price.

Veteran Opec analyst Yasser Elguindi of Medley Global Advisors dubs it a poker game:

“The stakes are extremely high, and everyone seems to be upping the ante. The thing with poker though is you can win even if you have a weak hand. But right now its hard to know who is bluffing and who is holding aces.”

Boom! UK consumers are running up credit at the fastest rate in over a decade, before the credit crunch

And people are taking out more mortgages too, in another signal that Brexit uncertainty isn’t hurting consumer confidence yet.

Reuters has the details:

Consumer credit increased last month by £1.62bn, up from £1.48bn in September and taking the annual growth rate to 10.5%- the strongest since October 2005, Bank of England data showed on Tuesday.

Mortgage approvals for house purchases increased to 67,518 in October from 63,594 in September. Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast 65,000 mortgage approvals were made in October.

After a slow start, Italy’s banking shares have now rallied by 2% today.

That may mean investors are a little more hopeful that Italy can ride out this crisis.

Erik Nielsen, chief economist at Unicredit, says there’s no chance that the Italian referendum could trigger a Lehman Brothers-style collapse.

Speaking on Bloomberg, Nielsen explains that thee Italian banks are too small, and they also have the European Central Bank waiting in the wings to help if needed.

Nielsen says investors are anticipating defeat for Renzi on Sunday.

Nobody really expects a yes vote, so it’s a question about how close it will be and if those opinion polls from way back are right or wrong.

But whatever happens, Italy needs to tackle the under-performing loans that are clogging up its financial sector.

As Nielsen puts it:

The big, big question is, whichever scenario comes though, can Italy address the question of the medium-sized banks which everyone knows they’ve been dragging their feet on for too long.

Now this is interesting.... Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera is reporting that Matteo Renzi is considering resigning as prime minister even if he wins on Sunday.

Under this strategy, Renzi would look to be re-appointed as prime minister with a new government, and broader support in the current parliament.

Then he could push through more constitutional reforms, before holding general elections in 2017 and 2018.

Here’s Correire’s piece.

And here’s Bloomberg’s take:

Global investors are becoming more concerned that the eurozone could break up, as fears over Italy’s future grow.

German research form Sentix reports that almost 20% of investors expect Italy to leave the eurozone in the next 12 months - the highest level since they started polling four years ago.

Investors are worried that Matteo Renzi will lose Sunday’s referendum, and concerned about the financial health of the Italian banking sector, says Julien Muller of Sentix.

Overall, the chances that a single country leaving the eurozone has risen to 24.1%, well below the peaks over 70% seen at the height of the 2012 crisis.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

Eurozone crisis jitters are returning to the City this morning, as investors worry that the smouldering problems in Italy’s economy are about to burst into life.

On Sunday, Italian votes head to the polls to vote on constitutional reforms - and many observers believe they will slap down prime minister Mattio Renzi’s attempts to curb the power of the Senate.

That could trigger Renzi’s resignation, and potentially pave the way for radical, anti-Euro Five Star Movement to take power.

That could scupper efforts to recapitalise Italy’s banks, which are weighed down by bad loans, and possibly require a full-blown bailout from the European Central Bank.

As Laurent Frings, head of credit research at Aberdeen Asset Management, put it:

“Italy’s banks are at a critical stage in trying to rebuild their finances and, if Renzi loses the referendum and quits, then those efforts are going to be in deep trouble.”

Renzi’s departure isn’t guaranteed, even if he loses his referendum. He could potentially stay on as caretaker PM, but even this would leave Italy looking less stable.

Renzi has insisted that political power needs to be more concentrated in the lower house of parliament, and the government, transforming the Senate from a directly elected upper house into a more consultative body representing Italy’s cities and regions.

Italian bank shares slid by almost 4% on Monday, dragged down by referendum worries and fears that financial firm Monti Dei Paschi’s rescue plan might falter.

Also coming up today...

Things are getting frostier, literally and metaphorically, in Vienna ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of the Opec oil cartel.

Yesterday, technical talks between Opec members failed to reach a deal on how to cut production.

(non-Opec member) Russia has helpfully weighed in, with Vladimir Putin saying it’s important that Opec stabilises the market.

In the UK, prime minister Theresa May will announce a crackdown on excessive pay at privately owned companies, to bring them into line with firms floated on the stock market.

The announcement is due around lunchtime.

Our City editor Jill Treanor has the story:

Theresa May is to promise a crackdown on boardroom excess at large privately owned businesses as she unveils proposals intended to hold corporate Britain to account.

The prime minister said the government would look at ways to bring privately owned companies under a regime that could mimic the one imposed on major stock market companies.

While many private companies were performing well, “we have, however, seen an irresponsible minority of privately held companies acting carelessly – leaving employees, customers and pension fund beneficiaries to suffer when things go wrong.

“So we will explore ways to improve and extend good governance across big business so that everybody plays by the same rules and we create an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few.”

We get a new healthcheck on the French and American economies today.

• 7.45am GMT: Second estimate of France’s GDP for the third quarter of 2016 (first estimate was 0.2% growth)
  
• 1.36pm GMT: Second estimate of US economic growth in Q3 (first estimate was 3.0% annualised growth)
  

Plus, entertainment group Merlin and sausage maker Cranswick are reporting results.

And telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced it is “proceeding with a formal notification” to force BT to legally separate its Openreach arm, having been disappointed with progress to date.

More on all that shortly...