Live updates. Bank of Japan meeting starts

The director-general of the World Trade Organization has warned that global growth will be affected if the ongoing Israel-Hamas war spills over into the wider Middle East region.

“If the infection spreads beyond the current region to other parts of the Middle East, there will be an impact,” Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told CNBC’s Martin Sun.

That’s because the Middle East is the “source” for much of the world’s natural gas and oil, the WTO chief said.

It added that escalating conflict could further depress already “quite challenging” trade growth.

Learn more about the story here.

– Sheila Chan

Australia recorded a 0.9% increase month-on-month. September seasonally adjusted retail sales.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.3% rise, accelerating from a 0.2% rise in August and beating expectations.

The country’s statistics agency said retail sales fell by 2% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to last year.

Australian retail sales are one of the indicators the Reserve Bank of Australia monitors when considering monetary policy, and are used as a measure of household spending.

— Lim Huijie

Veteran analyst Dan Ives says China’s tech giants may be reeling from tighter regulation, but they still have “a lot of value.”

Wedbush Securities’ managing director and senior equity research analyst views several stocks favorably. Analysts have a similar opinion, with one company’s stock increasing by 68%.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amara Balakrishna

On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell more than 350 points, capping off a tough week that saw the S&P 500 index also enter correction territory.

The Dow 30 fell 366.71 points, or 1.1%, to close at $32,417.59. The S&P 500 Index fell 0.48% to close at 4,117.37, while the Nasdaq Composite Index held firm at 12,643.01, up 0.38%.

— Brian Evans

High-tech companies, especially those leveraging artificial intelligence, have been in the spotlight this year, with investors flocking to Nvidia, Baidu, Alibaba and more.

But among the lesser-known tech companies, Sanjay Ayer, portfolio manager at US-based WCM Investments, stands out.

The networking company counts industry veterans Cisco and Juniper as competitors, and more than 40% of its revenue currently comes from Microsoft and Meta.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amara Balakrishna

Inflation expectations fluctuate significantly with final revision University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey The October edition was released on Friday.

Respondents now expect interest rates to be 4.2% a year from now, up 1 percentage point from their September forecast. This survey was an increase of 0.4 points from the previous release two weeks ago.

However, the broader index was slightly positive at 63.8, below September’s 67.9 level but up 0.8 points from the previous reading.

—Jeff Cox

Bitcoin is on pace to post its best week since June after a big rally earlier this week broke it out of the tight range it was trapped in for much of this year.

The coin is on pace to end the week 14% higher at the $33,000 level, according to Coin Metrics. At around $1,770, Ether is headed for a 10% weekly gain. Coin Metrics measures a week of cryptocurrencies traded 24 hours a day, from the stock market close at 4pm ET to Friday.

Investors are watching closely to see if Bitcoin can find a new floor at current levels. The first testing ground will be next week at the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee meeting, which begins on Tuesday. Carrie Cox, an analyst at investment firm eToro, said Bitcoin tends to outperform stocks on Fed days, outperforming the S&P 500 in 10 of the last 13 stocks.

“Next week could be a real test for cryptocurrencies,” she said. “While the industry news is exciting, I worry that investors are forgetting that we are in an aggressively high interest rate environment.The Fed will likely reaffirm rate hikes in next week’s comments. Deaf. That can be a tough pill to swallow.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if Mr. Powell were open to the idea of ​​cutting rates,” he added. “Inflation has made significant progress, and Mr. Powell’s language has been more balanced than usual lately. Mr. Powell may be harsh, but if he shows even a little flexibility, he can discourage people from taking risks such as cryptocurrencies. There is a possibility of a pullback to higher investment.”

— Tanaya Machel