*

Crude surges 9% on supply risks, gold less than $100 from

record

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Wall Street futures slump 1.7%, Japan's Nikkei drops 1.3%

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Iranian media confirms killing of Revolutionary Guards

chief

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, June 13 (Reuters) - Stocks dived in Asian trade

on Friday, led by a selloff in Wall Street futures, while oil

prices surged after Israel conducted a military strike on Iran,

sending investors scurrying to safe havens such as gold and the

Swiss franc.

The escalation in hostilities in the Middle East - a major

oil producing region - adds a fresh layer of uncertainty for

financial markets at a time of heightened pressure on the global

economy from U.S. President Donald Trump's aggressive and

erratic trade policies.

Market reaction was swift. Crude oil jumped about 9%, with

Brent futures rallying $6 to $75.36 per barrel and WTI

futures $6.16 higher at $74.20 per barrel by 0228 GMT.

Gold climbed 1.5% to about $3,434 per ounce, taking it

closer to the record high of $3,500.05 from April.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures slumped 1.7% and Nasdaq

futures skidded 1.8%. Pan-European STOXX 50 futures

tumbled 1.6%.

Japan's Nikkei lost 1.3%, South Korea's KOSPI

dropped 1.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined

0.8%.

"The geopolitical escalation adds another layer of

uncertainty to already fragile sentiment," said Charu Chanana,

chief investment strategist at Saxo, adding that crude oil and

safe-haven assets will remain on an upward trajectory if

tensions continue to intensify.

Global stocks markets had been poised for a fall following

an almost unbroken rally since early April that took the MSCI

All-Country World index to an all-time high this

week, according to Jessica Amir, a strategist at MooMoo.

"There's room for fat to be taken off the table," she said.

"It just appears that this is the catalyst that will

probably send equities down lower."

Israel said it was declaring a state of emergency in

anticipation of a missile and drone strike by Tehran, after what

it called a "preemptive strike" over Iran's nuclear programme.

Iranian state media confirmed on Friday the killing of

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander Hossein Salami in the

Israeli strike.

An Israeli defence official had earlier said members of

Iran's general staff, including the chief of staff and several

senior nuclear scientists were likely killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Israel's strikes

against Iran a "unilateral action" and said Washington was not

involved.

Tensions had been building as Trump's efforts to reach a

nuclear deal with Iran appear to be deadlocked. U.S. and Iranian

officials were scheduled to hold a sixth round of talks on

Tehran's escalating uranium enrichment programme in Oman on

Sunday, according to officials from both countries and their

Omani mediators.

U.S. Treasuries were bought in the rush for safer assets,

sending the yield on 10-year notes to a one-month

low of 4.31%.

The Swiss franc gained about 0.4% to 0.8072 per

U.S. dollar, and fellow safe haven the yen appreciated

0.3% to 143.12 per dollar.

Some traders were also attracted to the dollar as a haven,

with the dollar index up 0.5% to 98.131.

The euro eased 0.4% to $1.1538, giving back a

little of its 0.9% overnight jump to the highest since October

2021.

Sterling slipped 0.5% to $1.3554, after marking a

fresh high since February 2022 at $1.3613 early in the day.

"While we await further news and a potential response from

Iran, we are likely to see a further deterioration in risk

sentiment as traders cut risk seeking positions ahead of the

weekend," said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG.