Gold collapses 9%, stocks in Europe fall, Brent above $114: what's happening in the markets

The cost of gold collapsed by 9% in trading on March 23. Key stock indices in Europe fell sharply after the opening of stock exchanges on Monday against the background of tougher rhetoric of the United States and Iran, which led to an increase in oil and natural gas prices. The drop in stocks in Europe followed a collapse in Asia. Stock index futures in the U.S. are also down significantly.

- Spot gold prices were falling at the moment by almost 9% to $4099.18 per troy ounce. Then the rate of collapse slowed down to about 6%. The precious metal lost all the growth it had previously shown this year.

- Pan-European index Stoxx 600 fell in the first minutes of trading on March 23 by 1.7%. It was in the correction zone, down more than 10% compared to the peak reached in February, Bloomberg noted.

- France's CAC 40 index was losing about 1.6 percent.

- German DAX fell by 2%

- The British FTSE 100 index was down 1.5%.

- In the U.S., futures on the S&P 500 were losing 0.8 percent, the Nasdaq 100 was losing 0.9 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 0.6 percent.

- Brent crude oil rose about 1% after its price briefly exceeded $114 per barrel. Quotes are rising for the fifth day in a row after the highest closing level since mid-2022 on Friday, March 20. For now, however, the commodity is holding below its peak during the U.S. war with Iran at $119 per barrel.

- The cost of natural gas in Europe rose by almost 4% to €61.6 per 1 MWh. Quotes soared more than 18% last week due to attacks on gas infrastructure in the Middle East, including one of the largest liquefied natural gas plants in Qatar.

- Major Asian markets ended trading on Monday in the red zone. Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 3.5%, the Shanghai Stock Exchange's CSI 300 index collapsed 3.3% and South Korea's Kospi fell 6.5%.

On March 22, U.S. President Donald Trump demanded that Iran fully open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping within 48 hours, threatening otherwise to strike Iranian power plants. In response, Tehran said it would then attack "the entire energy, information technology and desalination infrastructure" of the United States and Israel in the region.

"Trump's ultimatum is exacerbating the situation and this is clearly reflected in stock markets. The market is moving from uncertainty to confidence that this conflict appears likely to drag on," Anika Gupta, director of macroeconomic research at Wisdomtree, said as quoted by Bloomberg.

Iran threatened on Monday that it would deploy sea mines in the Persian Gulf if its coasts or islands were attacked, the Financial Times reported.

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