This is CNBC's live blog covering European markets.

European stock markets closed lower Friday afternoon as global sentiment falters.

The regional Stoxx 600 ended 1% lower, with tech stocks dropping 2.5%. Oil and gas stocks made the biggest gains, by 1.2%, as crude prices rose sharply.

Despite the sharp rise in geopolitical volatility resulting from the outbreak of the devastating Israel-Hamas war, stocks have performed strongly this week, with the Stoxx 600 currently on track for its best week since July.

In the U.S. both producer price and consumer price index readings came in slightly higher than expected Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo started earnings season for major financial firms on Friday with higher-than-anticipated profit and revenue numbers for the third quarter. 

Asia-Pacific stocks closed lower as the consumer price index in China — where the concern is deflation — came in flat, below estimates for 0.2% growth.

U.S. stocks were slightly lower Friday as traders pored through the major bank earnings, and Treasury yields pulled back.

IMF’s Kammer: Europe seeing sluggish growth this year coming out of the crisis

Alfred Kammer, director of the European department at the IMF, speak to CNBC at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Marrakesh, Morocco.

U.S. stocks open higher on Friday

Major stock indexes opened higher on Friday as major banks released earnings.

• The S&P 500 was recently up about 0.4%, or more than 18 points.
• The Dow Jones Industrial Complex gained 0.5%, or about 173 points.
• The tech-heavy Nasdaq inched higher by 0.3%, or about 37 points.

— Pia Singh

Stocks at the bottom: St. James's Place down 16%, Sartorius falls 15%

Wealth manager St. James's Place tumbled 16% to hit the bottom of the Stoxx 600 index after acknowledging "recent media speculation" of its client fee structure.

The company said it is working with regulators and assessing its options in response to new U.K. consumer duty rules.

A number of media reports suggested that the company was under pressure from regulators to overhaul how it charges clients in light of the new legislation. St. James's Place declined to comment further.

Shares of French-German lab supplies manufacturer Sartorius Stedim fell 15% in morning trade after the company cut its full-year forecast.

Sartorius AG, the parent company of the group, was down around 10%.

— Hannah Ward-Glenton

ECB hawk Kazāks 'happy' with rates at current levels but remains cautious

Mārtiņš Kazāks, governor of Latvia's central bank, told CNBC he was "quite happy" with current European Central Bank interest rate levels.

Kazāks, seen as one of the more hawkish members of the Governing Council, said: "The current euro are monetary policy, I would say I'm quite happy, if I may say so, with the interest rate levels where they currently are."

"But at the same time I would not close the door to further rate increases if necessary," he added.

Kazāks said his concerns were around wages and whether growth has peaked; and the potential for shocks resulting from geopolitics.

"We have to remain very cautious about inflation developments, and geopolitics is by all means one of the key factors that may drive it."

Belgium's central bank governor, Pierre Wunsch, told CNBC Thursday that a sustained shock to oil prices could cause the ECB to hike again, since its members are now more attuned to the prolonged inflationary effects this can have than they were two years ago.

The issue has been brought to the fore both by September's sharp rise in oil prices and the severe escalation of a bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas.

— Jenni Reid

French inflation holds steady in September

Consumer price inflation in France was 4.9% year-on-year in September, coming in at 5.7% on an EU-harmonized basis, both the same readings as the prior month.

National statistics showed prices cooled 0.5% on a monthly basis, following a 1% rise in August. Food prices were 0.3% lower on the month.

Meanwhile, Spanish annual inflation was higher for the third consecutive time, rising from 2.6% in August to 3.5% in September; though monthly inflation dipped from 0.5% to 0.3%.

— Jenni Reid

Europe stocks set to open lower

European stocks were set to open slightly lower Friday, according to IG data.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 was seen 7 points lower at 7,641, with Germany's DAX down 52 points at 15,380 and France's CAC 40 down 24 points at 7,080.

— Jenni Reid

China records flat consumer prices, falling below expectations

China's consumer prices came in flat in September, while factory gate prices saw annual declines slow for a third month.

The consumer price index was flat on an annual basis in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. It was below the median estimate for a 0.2% increase in a Reuters poll.

China's producer price index fell 2.5% from a year earlier, weaker than economists' expectations for a 2.4% decline.

Tepid prices underscore what China's top leaders labeled as a "tortuous" economic recovery after the country emerged from its draconian zero Covid curbs toward the end of last year.

— Clement Tan, Lee Ying Shan

CNBC Pro: ‘Best performing emerging market’: Analysts name stocks to cash in on India’s boom

Stronger economic growth, accelerating government spending and a bottoming out of inflation are just some reasons why many analysts are bullish on India — and asset management firm AllianceBernstein is no exception.

The analysts expect the South Asian country to give "one of the highest returns among key markets throughout the world for the next several years."

AllianceBernstein revealed some of its favorite stocks in the country, including two new names on its radar.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Amala Balakrishner

Fed needs to see core inflation sub 4% and heading lower to stop raising rates, Wolfe says

Thursday's consumer price report for September was "modestly hotter-than-expected" and insufficient to stop the Federal Reserve from raising rates one more time before the end of 2023, according to Wolfe Research chief investment strategist Chris Senyek.

"Our sense is that the FOMC will need to see core inflation break below 4% and believe it will continue to trend downward to pause and remain on hold for a prolonged period," Senyek wrote to clients.

Over the medium, Senyek believes the lagged effect of the Fed's rate hikes since March 2022 will eventually "spark economic disappointments, rising recession concerns and a downward EPS revision cycle in the months ahead," and that declining interest rates will be insufficient to offset the downward bias.

— Scott Schnipper, Michael Bloom

CNBC Pro: 'Great tailwind': Asset manager is bullish on this under-the-radar AI stock

Artificial intelligence-related stocks have rallied as the theme gained traction this year, with investors piling into favorites such as Nvidia and Microsoft.

But according to Deepwater Asset Management, there's one under-the-radar AI stock that will be essential for the long-term infrastructure rollout of artificial intelligence.

CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.

— Weizhen Tan

Demand concerns keeping oil prices in check, Croft says

Oil prices bounced back on Thursday, with futures for U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rising 1.6% to trade just below the $85 per barrel mark. The move erased some of Wednesday's declines, the price of oil still remains below Monday's high and levels from late September, when WTI traded above $90 per barrel.

Helima Croft, RBC Capital Markets commodities strategist, said on "Squawk on the Street" that a report showing a surprising gasoline build in the United States last week is helping to keep prices in check despite the fears that the Israel-Hamas war could expand and disrupt the global oil supply.

"The question is what's going to win out this year. This broader concern about the macro backdrop — potential demand softness — or questions about the security of supply," Croft said.

— Jesse Pound

Inflation unlikely to come down without a recession, says Société Générale chairman

Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, chairman of Société Générale, joins CNBC's Silvia Amaro during the IMF meetings to discuss his forecast on global inflation and the possibility of a soft landing.