A Chinese turnaround - Kate catches up on the latest Chinese flash PMIs, which moved into 50+ expansionary territory in October. This, she says, should set up the the HSBC/Markit Economics PMI survey to do the same this month. But for how long the recovery? While Thursday's PMI data adds credence to the bullish forecast set out by Nomura's Zhiwei Zhang and Wendy Chen in October - (they believe that China's Q4 GDP growth will be 8.4 per cent - a big jump from 7.4 per cent last quarter) - it's worth remembering, says Kate, that their forecast for China thereafter turns below consensus fast. According to the analysts the days of China's 8 per cent-plus growth could now be finished as stimulus efforts run into problems with CPI inflation, not to mention its China's credit system. Is someone circling Pacific Drilling? - Does US-listed Pacific Drilling look like a credible takeover target? Bryce thinks it probably does, and 0n balance, he's keen to find out more. The story so far: Idan Ofer, Israel's richest man, floated Pacific Drilling on the NYSE last November at $8.25 per share. But interested parties, such as, Seadrill and Ensco are now said to be sniffing around, among others. The contrarian corporate liability switch - SocGen's Albert Edwards observes that corporate leverage is finally recovering after a temporary retraction, but that weirdly enough companies are using the credit for share buybacks. Izzy rationalises that it's all a matter of controlling your cost of equity and that sometimes it makes sense to switch out of a long-term liability into a shorter-term liability - after all, what's an equity if not just a perpetual bond on a variable rate ? Brussels set to clear Glencore-Xstrata: The merger of Glencore and miner Xstrata is set to win the blessing of Europe's top antitrust watchdog this week after the commodities trading house improved its offer to address Brussels" outstanding competition concerns. The approval is conditional to Glenstrata agreeing to terminate a large contract to buy zinc from Nyrstar and to sell its 7.8 per cent stake in the Brussels-listed mining and metals company, people familiar with the situation said. GM buys Ally Financial foreign units: Agrees to buy the European and Latin American lending businesses for about $4.2bn. Fed's Williams says plenty more bond-buying to be done: Fed president John Williams told the WSJ the central bank isn't even close to reaching the threshold at which its bond-buying programme risks inhibiting markets. Olam sues Muddy Waters after accounting questions: Olam International, the world's second-largest rice trader, has sued investment firm Muddy Waters and its founder Carson Block for defamation after they questioned the commodity supplier's accounting methods. Sony and Panasonic junked: Fitch has cut the credit ratings of Sony and Panasonic to junk - Sony three notches to BB-, from BBB-, and Panasonic two notches to BB, from BBB - saying that the recovery of both companies rests on aggressive and far-reaching restructuring. Fitch cited a long list of challenges, including loss of technology leadership in key products and the strong yen. Financial Times. Markets: Data suggesting the eurozone would sink deeper into recession was largely ignored on Thursday as investors were encouraged by the improving outlook for the Chinese and US economies. The FTSE All World index gained 0.4 per cent to 214.4, extending gains from the Asian trading day. The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.7 per cent to a two-week high, with Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average up 1.2 per cent to a six-month peak. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 was up 0.4 per cent to 1,102.19 and the euro moved higher against the dollar to $1.2854, up from Wednesday's close of $1.2820. Meanwhile, the dollar index, a measure of the US currency's performance against a basket of currencies, was weaker at 80.82 as investors took on more risk and shunned safer US assets. The equity rally was helped by gains on Wall Street ahead of closure on Thursday and a half-day on Friday for Thanksgiving. The S&P 500 closed with a gain of 0.2 per cent, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average pushed 0.4 per cent higher. US futures point to a small gain for shares when trading resumes in New York.