Top stories for the morning: UAE joins strikes on Iran, Qualcomm hits record high

The UAE, according to The Wall Street Journal, has carried out covert attacks on Iran, becoming the only country besides the US and Israel directly involved in the conflict. Meanwhile, U.S. markets hit record highs amid a rally in the tech sector, despite rising tensions over the conflict with Iran. These and other topics are in our review of key events for the morning of Ma. 12.

The United Arab Emirates has launched strikes against Iran and has become the only country, apart from the United States and Israel, directly involved in the conflict, The Wall Street Journal writes, citing sources. According to them, in early April, the UAE attacked an oil refinery on Iran's Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf. Abu Dhabi has not publicly confirmed its participation in the hostilities against Iran. Iran then acknowledged the attack and responded with missile and drone strikes on the UAE and Kuwait.

The newspaper's sources noted that Washington welcomed the Emirates' involvement at a time when other countries in the region were refusing to get involved in the conflict. Iran has fired hundreds of missiles and thousands of drones at the UAE during the conflict.

The UAE Foreign Ministry declined to comment to the WSJ on the attacks, but cited its past statements that the country reserves the right to respond, including militarily, to hostile acts. The Pentagon declined to comment.

Qualcomm shares rose 8.4% to $237.53, a new all-time high. The stock was among the leaders of the S&P 500, Barrons writes. The growth was supported by the general rally in semiconductors amid demand for AI chips: the SOX industry index shows the strongest dynamics since the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Additional impetus came from news on Intel, which may start producing chips for Apple, the paper points out.

Investors are increasingly betting on Qualcomm's diversification from smartphones to autos, IoT and data centers. The company is preparing to launch server chips for a major cloud client, and shares are up 41% in five sessions and 39% YTD.

U.S. stocks closed at a new all-time high: the S&P 500 exceeded 7,400 points for the first time, and the Nasdaq updated the record for the second day in a row, MarketWatch writes. The market is growing despite the rise in the cost of oil above $104 per barrel and increased tensions around the conflict with Iran after Donald Trump's tough statements. Since the beginning of the year, the index has added about 17%.

At the same time, anxiety is also growing: the VIX volatility index jumped by almost 7%, which may signal risks of turbulence. Analysts note that such divergences have already been encountered before market reversals, but so far they do not see a steady increase in fear, the publication points out. Investors continue to bet on the resilience of the US economy and the technology sector, despite geopolitical risks.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in the trial of Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, talking about the companies' partnership and the conflict around the startup's transformation, Yahoo Finance writes. He said that he was not notified in advance about the dismissal of Sam Altman in 2023 and did not receive clear explanations, suggesting that internal conflicts may have played a role in the decision.

Musk accuses OpenAI, Altman, Greg Brockman and Microsoft of straying from their original non-profit mission and actually defrauding investors. Nadella denied the claims, noting that Musk had not approached him directly. At the same time, he admitted that he feared a mass exodus of employees from OpenAI amid a management crisis.

BuzzFeed has been taken over by media entrepreneur Byron Allen for $120 million, although at its peak in the 2010s it was valued at $1.7 billion, The Guardian reports. Founder Jonah Peretti will relinquish the CEO position, but will remain president of the AI division. The new owner plans to develop streaming, user-generated content and compete with YouTube.

The company is preparing significant cost cuts ahead of the deal, which could mean layoffs. After a failed IPO and exit from the news business, BuzzFeed remains unprofitable, with a loss of $15 million in the first quarter of 2026 and shares trading around $0.71, while Allen is buying a stake at $3 per paper, the newspaper points out.

- Japan's broad Topix index was up 0.8 percent, while the Nikkei 225 was up 0.5 percent.

- Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.2 percent, while mainland China's CSI 300 Index was down 0.2 percent.

- In South Korea, the Kospi index was down 2.8% and the Kosdaq was down 3%.

- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was falling 0.4 percent.

- Futures on the S&P 500 were falling by 0.2%. Futures on Nasdaq Composite - by 0.5%. Exchange contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 0.1%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor