Oil and gold prices are soaring, stocks are falling, as Iran war and Middle East conflict escalate

In the wake of the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and the broader conflict that is now escalating across the Middle East region, oil and gas prices are skyrocketing on Monday along with precious metals like gold and silver.

Here’s an update on how markets are reacting to the conflict:

Oil and gas prices are up

Crude oil futures are up more than 7% over the last 24 hours as military operations threaten supply and spark fears of a drawn-out conflict that could disrupt the global economy. The price is up 25% year to date.

Gold and silver are also up

Precious metals such as gold and silver are also on the rise as investors once again turn to safe-haven assets in the wake of geopolitical uncertainty.

Gold hit a record high of $5,434.10 per ounce on Monday. As of this writing, it was up 4% over the last five days and a staggering 86% over the last 12 months.

Silver, which had fallen from record highs it had seen earlier this year, is now up more than 8% over the last five days.

Crypto is tumbling

Cryptocurrencies have been volatile this year after falling significantly from their high point in October 2025.

The war in Iran appears to signal more bad news for crypto investors as major tokens, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETC), and XRP, are all down since the conflict began.

As Fast Company reported last week, investors are more likely to dump speculative assets in the face of geopolitical uncertainty. Since President Donald Trump had been threatening military force in Iran for several days in the lead-up to Saturday’s attack, crypto traders had already been bracing for it.

Energy and defense stocks are up

With U.S. stock markets set to open for the first time since the Iran conflict began, oil and defense stocks have been rising in premarket trading.

Shares in Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) were up almost 5% in premarket trading on Monday as of this writing. Chevron Corp (NYSE: CVX) saw its stock rise by 4.33%. Both companies were already up by double digits this year.

Defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE: LMT) is also seeing a stock bump, with shares up almost 5% in premarket trading, and RTX Corporation (NYSE: RTX) is up by a similar amount.

Stock futures are broadly down

The rest of the stock market might not fare so well when the opening bell rings. Nasdaq futures, Dow Jones futures, and S&P 500 futures are down around 1 to 1.5% as of this writing.

As the conflict is impacting major airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and elsewhere, airline stocks are being hit particularly hard on Monday.

Shares in Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) are down 5.65% in premarket trading as of early Monday. United Airlines Holdings (Nasdaq: UAL) has tumbled 6.59% while American Airlines is down 6.27%.

This story is developing…