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Growth in the UK's key service sector continued to strengthen last month, according to a closely watched survey.

The IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index, external for the sector rose to 55.2, up from 54.5 the previous month and the highest figure since January.

A figure above 50 indicates that the sector is expanding.

IHS Markit said the service sector remained on a "firm growth path", with the UK economy "resiliently robust", despite uncertainty over Brexit.

Read more.

Shares in Purplebricks, the online estate agent which posted a sharp rise in profits this morning, have shot up. 

BBC personal finance correspondent Brian Milligan tweets:

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Eurozone retail sales grew at their fastest rate in two years in October, the EU's statistics agency has said.

Sales across the bloc climbed by 1.1% in the month - breaking two months of declines - and were up 2.4% year on year. 

Eurostat attributed the growth to a rise in sales of non-food products, such as clothing and electrical goods.

Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Markit, told Reuters the data would help boost economic growth in the Eurozone in the fourth quarter.

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After falling to a 20-month low earlier against the dollar, the euro has recovered and is now trading higher. 

In late morning trade it is up 0.5% against the dollar, at $1.0719, and up 0.47% against the pound at £0.84210.

Image source, Topps Tiles

Shares in Topps Tiles have dived 4% after the firm revealed it had miscalculated sales for the first eight weeks of its financial year.

The tile seller - which published the numbers last week - said that like-for-like sales were down 0.3% and not up 0.8% as previously stated.

However, its year-to-October sales (also out last week) remain unchanged.

Its shares have almost halved since January on fears that consumer confidence has weakened since the Brexit vote.  

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

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Europe's politicians can huff and puff. They can repeat the Brexit campaign's dire warnings about the cost of breaking up trade relations. 

But when it comes down to it, the business preference for a soft deal will prevail over a hard Brexit, right? 

Well, up to a point. There's no doubt that business will want its voice heard. And with the exception of some who want to poach finance business from the City of London, it would like to keep trade routes as open as possible. 

But not at any cost. I've just returned from Belgium, where I wanted to find out how things look from the other side of next year's Brexit negotiating table. 

What I found was that the voice of business sounds firmly in favour of maintaining the integrity of the single market.

Read more of Douglas's blog here.

Pedro da Costa, editorial fellow at the Peterson Institute, an economic think tank, tweets:

Image source, Lilium Aviation

A "flying car" has taken a step closer to take-off with €10m in extra funding.

Its makers say the Lilium Jet is "capable of carrying passengers into the heart of towns and cities".

The extra funds will help to expand the 35-strong team working on the jet ahead of flight testing early next year. 

“A personal, vertical take-off and landing aircraft has been the dream of generations. It is the ultimate means of transportation," said Daniel Wiegand, chief executive of Munich-based Lilium Aviation.

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Some good news for couples. The Office for National Statistics says there were 111,169 divorces in 2014, a decrease of 3.1% compared with 2013 and a decline of 27% from a recent peak in 2003.

Nicola Haines of the ONS said that likely factors included "increased cohabiting and increasing age at first marriage".  

On average, nine men in every 1,000 married men divorced in 2014; the same rate for women. That was a decrease of 5% compared with the year before, and about 30% since 2004.

The number of divorces in 2014 was highest among men aged 45 to 49 and women aged 40 to 44, the ONS said. 

Patrick O’Donnell, investment manager at Aberdeen Asset Management, says European markets were steady today because the Italian referendum result "wasn’t a surprise".

However, he says Italy's banks still face big risks: 

Douglas Fraser
Scotland business & economy editor

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Europe's main stock indices have built on their earlier gains, as they continue to shrug off the Italian prime minister's referendum defeat.

Germany's Dax is now 1.7% higher and the Paris Cac is up 1.4%. 

Kathleen Brooks, an analyst at City Index, said markets weren't currently pricing in banking turmoil, despite the concerns around Italy's Monte dei Paschi.

She said the defeat of the anti-establishment and anti-EU candidate in Austria's presidential election might also be buoying the markets. "This has potentially given some hope to the future of the EU."

London's FTSE 100 has also extended its gains. It's up 0.8%, led by miners - which were boosted by a rise in oil prices - as well as financial stocks.   

Dominic O'Connell
Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

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Over the weekend Apple revealed it is testing its own driverless car technology, confirming a long-standing rumour. 

However, BBC business reporter Dominic O'Connell says it will be a "big test" for the firm.

"Under Steve Jobs it seemed they could have done anything they wanted - moving from personal computers into smartphones seamlessly. But [current chief executive] Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs."

The move into cars would be the "first big departure" for Apple in a long time, he says, and Mr Cook "has to make a success of it". 

The firm will also face intense competition from Detroit carmarkers, which are also embracing driverless tech.   

Simon Jack
BBC Business Editor

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Although the share price of Europe's oldest bank Monte dei Paschi is little changed this morning, that may not last if the consortium of investors planning a €5bn cash injection abandon their rescue attempt amid the political vacuum opened up by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's departure. 

They will meet on Monday afternoon to decide their response. The boss of the bank has described this plan as getting "several holes in one in a row". Golfers will know how hard that is and the wind of political risk has just picked up.

Read Simon's full blog here. 

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That didn't last long. The euro, which was looking very wobbly against the dollar and pound overnight, has made back most of the ground it lost.

It's now about 0.2% down against the two currencies, at $1.06 and £0.84.

Italian bonds and bank shares have also bounced back after opening sharply lower following Matteo Renzi's referendum defeat.

Shares in Monte dei Paschi bank are 0.5% higher, while Banca Popolare is 2.2% higher. The Italian stock index, FTSE MIB, has pushed back into positive territory too. 

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Chances are you'll be hearing a lot more about Monte dei Paschi over the next few days.

Italy's oldest bank, and third largest lender, is desperately trying to raise €5bn and sell €28bn in bad loans.

Dr Paola Subacchi, an economist at Chatham House, says the bank has been a problem for "a long, long time", but the issues were largely put on hold in the run-up to the referendum.

Now that's over, there are two options: a "bail-in" from investors, but that would involve Italian households - which hold much of the bank's debt - taking a hit. Or a "bail-out" which is tricky under EU competition rules.

"It won't be a total bail-in or a total bail-out. It will be something in the middle," Dr Subacchi tells Today.

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Revenue and profit have shot up at online estate agent Purplebricks, as the firm claimed to be "eating" market share from traditional high street estate agents. 

In the six months to 31 October, revenue jumped 159% to £18.7m while gross profit more than doubled to £10.4m.

Chief executive Michael Bruce (pictured) told BBC Business Live that the firm's online model had become "a credible alternative" to bricks and mortar estate agents, and was more affordable. 

The firm's outlook was "confident", he added, despite the uncertainty in the UK housing market.

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Investors in European shares seem to have taken a sanguine view of Italian PM Matteo Renzi's referendum defeat.

Germany's Dax is 1.1% higher in the first half hour of trading, while the Paris Cac is up 0.5% and the FTSE 100 is 0.2% higher.

"While the euro has fallen, the reaction of the Eurozone indices suggests that they aren’t too worried about the region’s current political situation," said Connor Campbell, an analyst at Spreadex.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

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Care home services rated good or outstanding have fallen by 9% in the last year, according to a review of Care Quality Commission figures. 

Over the same period, prices increased by an average of 23% to £686 a week.

Martin Green, chief executive of Care England, which represents independent care homes, said the government was to blame for the rise in prices.

"The real problem here is the main customer - the government - is not putting enough money in," he told Today.

He rejected that under-investment from private equity owners was a major part of the problem.

Instead, he said, the government is not paying enough for care - which means those able to afford the services end up paying more. It's also increased costs on the sector through the living wage and more regulation, he said.