A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from

Rocky Swift

It had to be Friday the 13th, right?

The morning began with explosions in Tehran that appeared to be

much more serious than tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and

Iran last year.

Though a preemptive strike by Israel on Iran's budding

nuclear capability had been suspected, the timing and severity

still took markets by surprise, with oil prices jumping over 11%

at one point.

What remains unclear is what role or knowledge the United

States had about the offensive and what will Washington do if

Iran retaliates. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S.

was not involved, while Israel's state broadcaster said

Washington had been notified before the strikes. Steve Witkoff,

President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, had

been expected to meet Iran's foreign minister in Oman on Sunday.

Oil's jump put it on course for the sharpest daily gain in

more than five years. Gold and Treasuries surged in Asian

trading, while stock futures pointed to roughly 1.5% declines in

Europe and U.S. Britain's FTSE was down less than 0.5% in the

futures market.

With rubber bullets flying in Los Angeles and missiles

dropping in Tehran, global economies are clearly prioritising

guns over butter. Major defence contractors in Europe such as

Britain's BAE Systems, France's Dassault Aviation, and Sweden's

Saab AB may be active today.

Key developments that could influence markets on Friday:

- German, French final CPI readings for May

- Euro zone trade balance, industrial production data for

April

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(Editing by Kim Coghill)