SQUAWK BOX, FRIDAY 13TH OCTOBER, 2023

U.S. markets end a four-day streak in the green, dragging Asian equities lower as a result as stronger-than-expected inflation re-ignites concerns that rates will remain elevated for longer. Debt distress was a focus at the IMF/World Bank Meetings in Marrakech yesterday. World Bank President Ajay Banga tells a CNBC panel that trying to predict interest rates is ‘soothsaying, future-telling’. September consumer inflation in China flatlines and manufacturing prices fall for a twelfth consecutive month. Israel issues a warning to all Gaza City residents to leave the city for southern regions of the Strip ahead of significant military ground offensives. And in Washington, Louisiana Republican Representative Steve Scalise withdraws his bid for Speaker of the House, prolonging the impasse to a second week.