And finally, to Greece again where it has been announced that the country’s former finance minister Yiannos Papantoniou has been given a four-year prison term for declaring false revenue claims. Our correspondent Helena Smith reports from Athens:

Yiannos Papantoniou, the man most associated with paving the way to Greece’s adoption of the euro, suffered the ignominy of being handed a four-year sentence by an Athens court after it was discovered that his stated assets differed wildly to the deposits he was found to have stashed abroad. Papantoniou’s wife, Stavroula Kourakou, was also handed a four -year sentence after her name was similarly found on a list of wealthy Greeks (many suspected tax evaders) with holdings at the HSBC bank in Geneva. Commonly known as the Lagarde list, the tally of names has been the source of embarrassment and scandal for leading members of Greece’s political and business elite.

The 65-year-old politician was told that the sentences would be suspended until the case is heard by a higher court. Greek politicians, by law, have to make public assets and annual earnings.

Corruption is widely seen as a root cause of many of the country’s financial foes and in the five years since Athens’ near-economic collapse.

Greeks have loudly complained that almost none of their corrupt political class have been punished for the depredations that pushed Greece to the brink.

In the case of Papantoniou there may be worse to come. The wrong-doing goes back to 2009 – next week he will be tried on charges of having committed the same offense in 2008.

On that note it’s time to close up for the evening. Thanks for all your comments, and we’ll be back again tomorrow.

Still with the US, and housebuilders in the country have become increasingly confident about the outlook.

The National Association of Home Builders said its sentiment index rose to 58 in November from 54 in October, better than an expected reading of 55. The rebound came after the October figure showed its biggest drop since February.

Even so, the index has been above 50 for five straight months now, indication more builders believe market conditions are favourable than poor. NAHB chief economist David Crowe said:

Low interest rates, affordable home prices and solid job creation are contributing to a steady housing recovery. After a slow start to the year, [the index] has remained above the 50-point benchmark for five consecutive months, and we expect the momentum to continue into 2015.

More on the US producer prices, and economists suggest the rise is another sign a rate increase from the Federal Reserve is getting closer. Dr Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit Research said:

The rise in the core producer price index [PPI] should alleviate concerns over ongoing declines in US inflation rates.

While the PPI is more volatile than the consumer price index (CPI), the latest move strongly suggests that the downward trend in the CPI that began earlier this year, is about to end.

This, in combination with ongoing improvements in the labor market and gradually acceleration wage gains, implies that the Federal Reserve is getting closer to its first rate hike. We continue to expect the lift-off for June 2015.

More from Greek finance minister Gikas Hardouvelis, who has emerged from talks with the country’s president Carolos Papoulias. Helena Smith reports:

Hardouvelis said: “We are at the end of the economic adjustment programme and from 2015 a new period and a new relationship begin. It must be a friendly relationship, that way all of us will come out as winners. The economy will recover faster in a climate of support from our partners. That will help our effort to go out alone to the markets and borrow with low interests.

“As finance minister I am called upon to protect fiscal stability and to resist populism. I will not allow, whatever passes through my hands, to deceive the Greek people. I am working so there can be an overall, realistic agreement with lenders as soon as possible,” he said of the stalled negotiations.

“We want an agreement that will take the country forward. And we will succeed. But today we need level headedness …. we have to come to an agreement with lenders that is safe for the country.”

Greece’s finance minister has confirmed that the government and its lenders are struggling to reach an agreement on the outstanding measures that Athens should take.

More inflation data just hit the wires, this time from the US.

And producer prices (which measures how much American firms receive for their wares) rose by 0.2% in October. Economists had expected PPI, which feeds through to the headline inflation rate, to drop by 0.1% month-on-month.

Core PPI, which strips out food and energy, rose by 0.4% month-on-month.

Much of the inflationary pressures appear to be in the services sector, though, where producer prices jumped 0.5%, rather than among goods producers.

This latest deadlock between Athens and the Troika comes as Greece’s coalition government tries to nominate a new president to replace the outgoing Karolos Papoulias.

As fastFT points out, failure could trigger snap elections:

The anti-austerity leftwing Syriza party is currently leading in the polls, so investors fret that elections could once again reopen the can of worms that many hoped had been firmly closed by now.

Martin Beck, senior economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, has joined the ranks of experts predicting that UK inflation will ease back from October’s 1.3%.

And that means interest rates will remain at their current record low for some time.

“October’s uptick in inflation is largely a function of base effects and movements in volatile categories. Otherwise, the inflationary trend is downward and there is a good chance that the CPI measure will drop back again over the next couple of months.

“It looks increasingly likely that inflation will dip below 1% in the early months of 2015, which would lead to a letter of explanation from Mark Carney to the Chancellor. Against this backdrop, and given the increasingly dovish mind-set of the majority of the MPC, it is unlikely that they will even contemplate an increase in interest rates in the near-term. Indeed, the risks are becoming increasingly skewed towards a lengthy period of inaction.

“Oil is currently trading around $10 a barrel below the October average, suggesting that petrol prices still have some way to fall, while today’s producer prices data suggest that the disinflationary pressures coming along the supply chain are intensifying. With core inflation at just 1.5%, underlying pressures remain subdued.

Beck also reckons that this morning’s house price data shows that the Southern England housing market cooling a little:

“Although this morning’s data show house price inflation being surprisingly resilient at national level, this has masked some interesting trends in the regional data with the earlier strength of London & the South East now subsiding. This cooling in the southern markets is encouraging, as it is a necessary condition for a slowdown in the wider market. We expect to see the ONS series echo other measures in reporting a cooling in the market over the next few months.”

The recent fall in the oil price means the UK consumer prices index will remain low for the next year or so, reckons David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce:

“Although inflation edged up slightly in October, the impact of low oil prices will have a noticeable impact in coming months, causing inflation to drop.

We expect inflation to fluctuate around 1.0% until late 2015, before rising towards 2.0% in 2016.”

Britain is experiencing a major easing of price pressures, despite the small pick-up in inflation last month, says Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte:

Low inflation is likely to ride to the rescue of the UK consumer in 2015, providing vital support for spending and for GDP growth.”

Rising inflation is all those young people’s fault, jokes Société Générale currency expert Kit Juckes.

Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, explains why fuel costs pushed inflation up last month, even though the oil price has fallen:

Fuel costs and air fares were the main reasons behind the rise. Both have fallen since last month, but this time last year there was an even larger fall between September and October, leading to an upward impact on the year-on-year figures.

Brettell adds that the outlook for inflation remains weak. And with few inflationary pressures, the weak eurozone economy, and Japan in recession, he predicts UK interest rates won’t rise until late 2015 at the earliest.

The desperate fight for customers between Britain’s supermarkets means Britons can look forward to fuel and food prices continuing to fall.

So reckons James Brown, partner at the London office of pricing experts Simon-Kucher & Partners.

He says:

With no clear signal from the OPEC countries of a cut in oil supply, we see no immediate sign of a price increase. The good news for consumers is that these falls in oil price are being rapidly passed on at the pumps, largely thanks to the spill-over effects from the supermarket price war.

And the drop in food prices (down 1.6% over the last year) is likely to continue as established supermarkets battle discount chains (Aldi and Lidl).

This [price war] shows no signs of abating, with Sainsbury’s the latest to indicate heavy investment in price cuts. Whilst consumers can expect to enjoy sustained low prices, this will inevitably put pressure on the margins of these supermarkets and their suppliers.

Returning to the rise in UK inflation... the Labour Party says the increase in the consumer prices index means Britain is still suffering a cost of living crisis.

Catherine McKinnell MP, shadow Treasury minister, says:

“While Ministers deny there’s a cost-of-living crisis these figures show an unexpected rise in inflation.

“Working people are £1,600 a year worse off under David Cameron’s government because for four years wages have lagged behind price rises. And working people face a further hit if the Tories win the election. They’ve pledged to cut tax credits again and refuse to rule out another VAT rise.

“Labour’s economic plan will tackle the cost-of-living crisis and ensure we can earn our way to higher living standards for all, not just a few at the top. We will balance the books in the next Parliament, but do so in a fairer way - starting by reversing David Cameron’s tax cut for millionaires.”

Reminder, we don’t yet know how much wages also rose in the year to October. They may have increased faster than 1.3% (September’s increase).

But wages will surely not have matched the retail prices index, the wider measure of inflation, which rose by 2.3% in the last year.

Encouraging-ish economic news from Germany -- economic sentiment in Europe’s largest economy has risen this month, and by more than expected.

The ZEW institute’s monthly measure of morale has jumped to 11.3, from minus 3.6 in October. That indicates some stabilisation in the German economy, according to ZEW.

London’s house price inflation has eased a little, mind, but is still ahead of the rest of the UK.

Britain’s supermarket sector has suffered its first drop in grocery sales in two decades, according to data just released:

Troubled Tesco suffered particularly badly, with sales down 3.7% followed by Morrisons with 3.3%.

Mark Miller, UK analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit, also reckons UK inflation will fall back in the months ahead:

Going forward, risks remain firmly skewed to the downside amid declining oil prices, emerging signs of another slowdown in global economic activity and subdued wage pressures.

We do not envisage a Bank of England interest rate increase until well into the second half of 2015.

The pick-up in inflation means Bank of England governor Mark Carney is spared the indignity of writing to the chancellor to explain why the consumer prices index isn’t within one percentage point of his 2% target.

But Mr Carney might still need to rehearse his excuses, as inflation could drop back this month.

Jeremy Cook, chief economist of World First, says:

“It is almost certain that November’s number is lower than October’s and could easily hit 1%, triggering a letter from BOE Governor Carney to Chancellor George Osborne to explain why.

“Of course, the increase now wipes out last week’s wage improvement and tightens pressure on pockets heading into Christmas. Retailers will continue to cut prices heading into the festive period, until decent wage strength allows their margins some breathing room.”

The government appears keen to portray today’s inflation report as a good thing.

A HM Treasury Spokesperson has said:

“The government’s long term economic plan is working, with inflation falling by three quarters since its peak in September 2011 and pay cheques rising.

But the effects of the great recession are still being felt and so we have taken continued action to help with the cost of living, including cutting income tax, freezing fuel duty and reducing the costs of childcare. The job is not yet done and the biggest risk to the recovery would be abandoning the long-term economic plan that is delivering economic security.

Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, also wants to take some credit:

Rising inflation puts more pressure on households. But we don’t know yet whether real wages are still rising, or not.

Last week’s unemployment report showed that average wages, excluding bonuses, rose by 1.3% in the three months to September. But we don’t get October’s wage data for another three weeks.

Over the last year, food prices are down by 1.6% and prices of motor fuels are down by 4.8%, the ONS says.

Why did UK inflation go up to 1.3% last month?

The Office for National Statistics says that “smaller falls in transport costs than a year ago – notably for motor fuels and air fares, and price rises for computer games were the main contributors to the rise in the rate of inflation.

But food and fuel prices do continue to fall -- knocking 0.3 percentage points off the Consumer prices index, the ONS says.

UK inflation, a preamble...

Just under 20 minutes to go until we get the UK inflation data for October, showing how the cost of living changed last month.

In September, the consumer prices index fell to a five-year low, of just 1.2%, well shy of the Bank of England’s 2% target.

Some economists reckon October’s CPI figures will be unchanged at 1.2%, with falling oil prices continuing to drive down inflation.

Ilya Spivak, currency strategist at DailyFX, suggests a “downside surprise” is possible, given a recent survey showed prices falling in the service sector.

A soft outcome is likely to pour cold water on BOE rate hike speculation, weighing on the British pound.

In other corporate news, EasyJet profits have soared by 22% as the no-frills airline continued to bolster its position as Europe’s second largest budget airline. More here.

The word from Japan is that prime minister Shinzo Abe will hold a press conference at 10.10am GMT, to reveal his response to the country’s slide back into recession.

Abe is widely expected to postpone the increase in the sales tax scheduled for early 2015, in an attempt to stimulate growth by relaxing his fiscal targets.

His advisor has set the scene already, saying it would be natural to delay the hike, despite the need to cut Japan’s debt pile eventually.

UK high street retailer John Lewis has reported that Christmas sales are picking up pace, as my colleague Fiona Walsh explains:...

General Motors didn’t have a great October, though. Total registrations dropped over 5%, due to the withdrawal of its Chevrolet brand from Europe.

French carmaker Renault had a good October, with registrations up 10.5% year-on-year.

Germany auto manufacturers did OK too, Volkswagen sales were 6.9% higher than October 2013, while BMW registrations jumped +9.4%.

And Italy’s FCA (which includes Fiat) saw registrations rise by 8.4%.

The full ACEA data is here (pdf).

Car registrations in Cyprus were almost 35% higher in October than a year ago, AECA reports.

A total of 707 new vehicles were registered, up from 524 in October 2013, suggesting the country is recovering from the trauma of its bailout in March 2013.

Irish car sales are up 20.3% year on year, while they are up 30% in Portugal.

But they dipped by 2.8% in Finland, where the economy has been struggling this year.