Here are the most important news items that investors need to start their trading day:
1. Inflation fears
Stop me when you've heard this one ... Investors were spooked Thursday by new data showing persistent U.S. inflation. A fresh read from the Labor Department showed the consumer price index up 0.4% on the month and 3.7% on the year, slightly higher than Wall Street expectations, and sent major stock indexes lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.51% during the session, the S&P 500 declined 0.62%, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.63%. All three indexes are up on the week, though, and on the month as stocks fight to make good on a historical promise of October gains. Follow live market updates.
2. Calls for evacuation
As violence in Israel stretches to nearly a week, the Israeli military has instructed civilians in Gaza City to evacuate, fueling concerns over the possibility of an Israeli ground incursion into the territory. The Israeli Defense Forces haven't confirmed such plans, but have gradually amassed troops at the border and have given the roughly 1.1 million residents of north Gaza about 24 hours — or before midnight local time — to leave the area, according to the United Nations. Hamas has rejected the calls for evacuation. As of Friday morning, almost 2,900 people have been killed so far in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Follow live updates on the Israel-Hamas war.
3. First banks
JPMorgan and Wells Fargo kicked off bank earnings Friday morning, amid concerns of depreciating bond portfolios and growing loan losses. JPMorgan topped profit expectations and reported better-than-expected interest income and credit costs. Wells Fargo, likewise, topped expectations. They're the first of the third-quarter reports after what was another period of rising interest rates. Higher yields mean dwindling value for banks' bond portfolios and pressure on capital. Citigroup reports its results a little later in the morning.
4. Boss level
UK regulators on Friday cleared Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover of gaming company Activision Blizzard, removing the last hurdle before the deal could be finalized. The Competition and Markets Authority had held up the acquisition citing concerns that it would hamper competition in the nascent cloud gaming market. CMA said on Friday the acquisition can take place, noting Microsoft had conceded to divest some cloud gaming rights. "The new deal will stop Microsoft from locking up competition in cloud gaming as this market takes off, preserving competitive prices and services for UK cloud gaming customers," the regulator said in a statement.
5. One for the money, two for the show
Taylor Swift has officially hit the big screen. The superstar's Eras Tour concert film debuted in theaters Thursday night, a day earlier than planned due to "unprecedented demand." The limited run was already set to be a blockbuster (and a dance party) with some box office analysts calling for a $150 million opening weekend. A haul of that scale would put the film on par with the likes of "Barbie," "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"Â and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse." But as Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com, put it: "Taylor is in a league of her own with this release."
– CNBC's Pia Singh, Hakyung Kim, Ruxandra Iordache, Hugh Son, Arjun Kharpal and Sarah Whitten contributed to this report.
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