Top stories for the morning: Israel attacked Iran, gold and oil soared, US futures are in negative territory

Israel launched a series of airstrikes on Iran, attacking nuclear facilities, key military targets, high-ranking commanders and several top nuclear scientists. The escalation caused panic in world markets: oil rose sharply, gold reached $3437 per ounce, and leading Asian stock indices went into negative territory. Market participants warn that even a localized conflict can quickly get out of control, increase inflation risks and hit the global economy. These and other topics are covered in our review of key events for the morning of June 13.

Israel reported retaliatory Iranian drone attacks after launching a series of airstrikes on Iranian territory early Friday morning local time. The Israeli side said its targets were sites related to Iran's nuclear program, reports Reuters. The strikes killed Mohammadhossein Bagheri, Iran's chief of general staff and one of the country's most senior military officers, according to local media reports. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, was also killed. In addition, two leading Iranian nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were reported killed.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to avenge the incident. «With this crime, the Zionist regime has brought a bitter and painful fate upon itself and it will certainly face it,» he said in a statement;

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant declared a state of emergency shortly after the operation began. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation would continue for as long as it took to eliminate the threat. According to Reuters, he warned Israelis of the likelihood of prolonged stays in bomb shelters due to Iran's response. All departures and arrivals at Tel Aviv International Airport have been canceled.

Iranian media reported numerous casualties in Tehran. In addition to the capital, strikes hit the city of Natanz, home to an important nuclear facility, Khandab, the site of a heavy water reactor, and Khorremabad, home to a ballistic missile base.

The US was not involved in the military operation, but Donald Trump was informed of it in advance.

Oil futures jumped sharply after Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, reports CNBC. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude is up 9.66% to $74.64 a barrel, while benchmark Brent is up 9.27% to $75.79 a barrel. This could be the biggest one-day price rise since 2020.

According to Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, the oil market fears that Iran will retaliate by striking Israeli or U.S. facilities, which could lead to a major escalation of the conflict and disruption of oil supplies.  «Iran is well aware that President Donald Trump is focused on lowering energy prices,» Lipow told CNBC, adding that higher gasoline and diesel prices in the United States due to Tehran's actions could have political repercussions for the U.S. leader.

Oil markets have largely ignored geopolitical risks in recent months, but current events have become a «wake-up call» showing that these threats are real and closer than they seemed, according to Saul Kavonik, head of energy research at MST Marquee.  «Iranian retaliation is inevitable, and even unintentionally it could lead to uncontrolled escalation,» Kavonik warned, adding that airstrikes could strengthen the position of Iranian strongmen determined to escalate further.

The price of gold rose sharply after the Israeli strikes, reports Bloomberg. It's up 1.6 percent. Gold is currently trading about $60 below the record high of $3500.10 an ounce set in April.

«The risk of retaliation from Iran, including threats to U.S. bases, is adding to uncertainty and driving demand for defensive assets,» said Saxo Capital Markets strategist Charu Chanana. - Amid deteriorating market sentiment, gold is likely to continue to rise as a protective asset not only against conflict but also against a possible spike in inflation and volatility.»

Quotes growth continues for the third day in a row. The reason for the previous rally was weak data on inflation and employment in the U.S., which strengthened expectations of interest rate cuts by the Fed this year. According to the report published on Thursday, US manufacturing inflation remained subdued in May, and the number of jobless claims reached the highest since the end of 2021, the agency points out.

Since the beginning of the year, gold has risen in price by 30% - investors are looking for protection against the background of Donald Trump's aggressive trade policy and geopolitical tensions, including the conflict in Ukraine. Prices are further supported by active purchases of gold by central banks and sovereign wealth funds.

Asia-Pacific indexes fell after Israel launched military strikes against Iran, reports CNBC.

- Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.12%, while the Topix lost 0.96%. South Korea's Kospi fell 0.98% and the Kosdaq small companies index fell 2.91%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.23%. 

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.72% and China's CSI 300 also fell 0.72%. India's Nifty 50 lost 1.01% and the BSE Sensex lost 1.42%.

- U.S. stock futures are down more than 1.4%, with contracts on the technology index Nasdaq Composite -they collapsed 1.8%.

Saul Kavonik, head of energy research at MST Marquee, said that markets have generally ignored geopolitical risks over the past year, but the current events have signaled that such risks are more real and closer than many believed. He added that the attacks could have been designed to increase pressure on the US-Iran talks and that the situation could de-escalate in the future.

Shares of aerospace corporation Boeing collapsed nearly 6% after a Dreamliner crashed in India, killing more than 240 people. This is the first crash of this model in its entire lifetime. The cause is not yet known, and analysts are calling investors' reaction emotional. At the same time, they warn that Boeing quotes will remain under pressure due to uncertainty. 

The crash raises questions about the future of Boeing's most ambitious project - a long-haul airplane that airlines are now waiting years for,  writes MarketWatch. Analysts say the incident is unlikely to slow the Dreamliner program itself amid strong demand for the fuel-efficient aircraft. However, the crash could lead to tighter controls on assembly and quality procedures at Boeing's factory, Edward Jones analyst Jeff Windau wrote in a note quoted by Barron's. MarketWatch;

At the same time, the Air India disaster is likely to affect investors' perception of Boeing, especially ahead of one of the most important industry events, the Paris Air Show, which starts in the coming days. That's where the biggest orders are traditionally announced.  «The crash is likely to put pressure on Boeing shares in the short term and limit the potential upside typically associated with the air show week,» - warns RBC's Herbert.

Scale AI founder and CEO Alexander Wang confirmed on Thursday that he is leaving the company and joining Meta, CNBC reports. He said this in a letter to employees, thus confirming media reports about his departure and a large-scale deal with Meta.

Meta will invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI and will receive a 49% stake in the startup. However, according to a Scale AI spokesperson, the company will not get a say in management. «As you've probably already realized from the news, opportunities of this scale often come with a price. In this case, it's my resignation,» Wang wrote in a statement also published on the X platform. - It has been my greatest honor to be your CEO.»

Jason Droege, a former vice president at Uber and partner at venture capital firm Benchmark, has been named the new CEO of Scale AI. Until recently, he was chief strategy officer at Scale AI. A small number of the startup's employees will also move to Meta as part of the deal.

Meta confirmed the signing of a strategic partnership and investment agreement.  «As part of this agreement, we will deepen our joint work on data preparation for AI models, and Alexander Wang will join Meta to work on the superintelligence project,» the company said. - We will reveal more about the new team and the people who will be joining it in the coming weeks.»

Scale AI will continue to work with current clients, including Microsoft, Google and OpenAI - Meta's direct competitors. A representative of the startup emphasized that Meta will not get access to business data or confidential information of other clients.