The S&P 500 could join other U.S. benchmarks in a correction next week. Here’s what’s ahead
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The S&P 500 could join other U.S. benchmarks in a correction next week. Here’s what’s ahead



Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade
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Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade


Gold, silver and platinum resumed their recent sell-off this week, falling sharply as investors continue to retreat from precious metals as a safe haven trade amid the ongoing war in Iran.

The price of spot gold was seen 7.8% lower shortly after 7:30 a.m. in London (3:30 a.m. ET) on Monday, at $4,126.36.80.

Gold futures were down almost 10% at $4119.10, the lowest level seen so far in 2026.

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Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade

Gold spot.

The precious yellow metal lost almost 10% last week in its worst showing since September 2011. Spot gold has now lost around 25% since hitting a record high of $5,594.92/oz at the end of January.

Spot silver, meanwhile, was down 8.3% at $62.24, a year-to-date low and almost half of its $117 level on Feb. 28, when the Iran war began. Silver futures were trading 11.7% lower on Monday at $61.66.

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Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade

Silver futures.

The sell-off extended to other precious metals, with platinum futures plummeting 10.6% to $1,760.90, while palladium dropped 6.7% to $1,347.50.

The retreat from gold — which is traditionally seen as a key safe haven asset in times of market turmoil — chimes with the ongoing risk-off sentiment in markets as the Iran conflict fuels concerns over inflation and rising energy prices.

The prospect of higher interest rates as a result of the war could boost government bonds among investors, at the expense of non-yielding precious metals, market strategists told CNBC recently.

However, euro zone government bond yields were once again moving higher in early trading on Monday as the conflict’s latest escalation left few hiding places for investors.

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U.S. ‘misadventure’ in Iran has no clear exit strategy, Russia’s UK ambassador says
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U.S. ‘misadventure’ in Iran has no clear exit strategy, Russia’s UK ambassador says


Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the UK Andrei Kelin during an interview with PA at the official residence of the Russian Ambassador in London. Picture date: Monday February 21, 2022.

Aaron Chown – Pa Images | Pa Images | Getty Images

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is a “misadventure” whose goals and exit strategy remain unclear, Russia’s ambassador to the U.K. told CNBC.

Andrey Kelin said Russia has “a lot of sympathy” with Tehran and said “the best end” to the escalating Middle East war is for it to “show only that they are senseless.”

“We still are trying to understand, what are the goals of President Trump in this campaign. You know that lots of doubts have been expressed about the exit strategy that the American administration can have in this endeavour,” Kelin told CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick in an interview recorded on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a message to Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, earlier this week, offering his “unwavering support” to Tehran and saying the country “has been and will remain the Islamic Republic’s reliable partner.”

U.S. ‘misadventure’ in Iran has no clear exit strategy, Russia’s UK ambassador says

The war has been raging for two weeks, with heavy strikes reported across Iran’s capital city and shipping traffic through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz severely disrupted.

The White House has said the objectives of Operation Epic Fury have been to destroy Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal and production capacity and its navy, sever its support for proxies in other countries and ensure Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon.

The White House said on Thursday these objectives “have remained unchanged unambiguous, and consistent” since the operation began on Feb. 28.

“We have a lot of sympathy with Iran. We have a lot of sympathy as well with the Persian Gulf states, there is no doubt at all. As for the beginning, I cannot understand the position of when everybody is blaming Iran,” Kelin said.

“[The] crisis has started with the, as I have said, with Israel and U.S. aggression against Iran and it was in the middle of talks, of course,” he continued, referring to negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program held in the Swiss city of Geneva last month.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Iranian President in Ashgabat on December 12, 2025.

Alexander Kazakov | Afp | Getty Images

“My president discussed this issue with the president of the United States, and we can make a good contribution by the way to finish it, to wrap it up.”

CNBC has contacted a spokesperson at the White House and Israel’s Foreign Ministry and is awaiting a response.

‘A strategic partnership’

Alongside China, which has received millions of barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz even as war chokes the waterway, Russia stands as one of Iran’s most influential diplomatic partners.

“We have a strategic partnership with Iran. We are not allied in military terms, but we have a strategic partnership, and we have got a lot of communication in different fields,” Kelin told CNBC.

Asked to clarify whether Moscow has any military links with Iran, Kelin replied: “I do not comment on that side.”

Funerals are held for members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and other military figures at Enghelab Square on March 11, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Majid Saeedi | Getty Images News | Getty Images

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healy told reporters on Thursday that Putin’s “hidden hand” appears to be behind Iran’s military playbook as well as potentially some of Tehran’s military capabilities.

Iran has reportedly fired off more than 2,000 Shahed drones across the Middle East since the war began. These drones, which were first designed in Iran, have been used extensively during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Diplomatic solution on Ukraine is ‘badly needed’

On Ukraine, Russia’s Kelin said Kyiv is “steadily” and “definitely” moving toward defeat after more than four years of war, despite little movement by Russian forces and mounting casualties.

When challenged on Russian forces’ lack of movement, Kelin replied: “During winter time, of course, there was a certain pause. At the moment, we have a spring problem with the roads because they are in bad conditions but, believe me, what is on the table right now is about 10% of Donbas territory, which is not yet under our control.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this week that the Kremlin’s own assessments estimate that more than 1.3 million Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded on the battlefield since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. CNBC could not independently verify this report.

A report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies published in January said Russian battlefield casualties are significantly greater than Ukrainian fatalities, with Ukrainian forces likely suffering somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 casualties.

Kelin said he was sure that both Moscow and Kyiv would eventually agree to a diplomatic resolution to the war.

“I cannot say when it is going to happen, but a diplomatic solution is badly needed,” Kelin said.

Kelin said The U.S. was “playing a constructive role in this diplomatic effort,” but added: “Since Ukraine is not prepared at the moment and since Europe still prefer to back up Ukraine as much as possible, to supply it with weapons, with money … making no efforts to solicit or to help this diplomatic solution, this will last for some time.”

U.S-brokered talks on the Ukraine war have been put on hold due to the Iran conflict, with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff telling CNBC on Tuesday that the discussions would now likely take place next week. Ukraine’s Zelenskyy had urged the U.S. not to remove sanctions on Russia ahead of those talks, although the White House has since moved to temporarily lift sanctions on Russian crude at sea.

A Shahed-136 drone is displayed at a rally in western Tehran, Iran, on February 11, 2026.

Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, recently said there appears to be “no end in sight” to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking at a news conference on Monday, she said it is clear Russia’s army was “bogged down” and its economy is in steep decline.

“Russia’s maximalist demands cannot be met with a minimalist response,” Kallas said. “It’s just common sense, if Ukraine’s military is to be limited in size, Russia’s should be too.”

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Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade
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CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter: FTSE 100’s defensive slant comes into its own


This report is from this week’s CNBC’s UK Exchange newsletter. Like what you see? You can subscribe here.

The dispatch

It was no surprise, when equity markets first reacted to news of the strikes on Iran, that the U.K.’s FTSE 100 fell by less than all of its major continental European peers.

What is often seen as the Footsie’s weakness — its defensive assortment of pharmaceutical, utility, tobacco and consumer goods stocks — comes into its own at times of market volatility.

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Gold and silver in freefall as investors flee safe haven metals trade

FTSE 100

Additionally, the index contains plenty of constituents likely to benefit from turmoil in the Middle East, such as the defense contractor BAE Systems and suppliers to the industry, like Babcock International, Rolls-Royce and Melrose Industries, as well as oil majors BP and Shell.

This is a pattern well-established during times of strife: during the second Iraq War in 2003 and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., the Footsie outperformed its European peers and, during the latter, the Dow Jones Industrial Average as well.

Mining stocks, which could benefit from higher commodity prices caused by disruption to shipping routes and supply chains, are also well represented in the FTSE 100. Rio Tinto, Glencore, Anglo American and the Chilean copper miner Antofagasta are among the 20 largest stocks in the index, while the likes of Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining are well-placed to benefit should the uncertainty lead to another leg higher in the price of gold. 

Nor do these defensive qualities apply just to the leading 100 U.K.-listed companies. The FTSE 250, the mid-cap U.K. stock index, is replete with defense industry suppliers, including Qinetiq Group, Avon Technologies, Hunting and Senior, not to mention oil and gas plays such as Ithaca Energy, Harbour Energy and Clarkson, the world’s largest shipbroking and integrated shipping services provider, another likely beneficiary from maritime disruption.

City workers in Paternoster Square, where the headquarters of the London Stock Exchange is based, in the City of London, UK.

Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

So, for investors seeking to retain exposure to equities during times of conflict in the Middle East, the U.K. stock market is not a bad option.

To that, it can be added that sterling usually suffers when currency investors seek safety plays in the U.S. dollar, the Swiss franc and the yen, as seen on Monday morning, when the pound initially fell to a three-month low against the greenback.

Because FTSE 100 companies make around three-quarters of their revenues in currencies other than the pound — around 45% or so comes in dollars — sterling weakness tends to be good for the Footsie.

This phenomenon has been understood for years by professional investors but hit home with the wider public when, in June 2016, the vote to leave the EU crushed the pound while the FTSE 100, after an initial sell-off, rallied.

Energy prices in focus

That is not to say the U.K. economy will not be hurt should this conflict prove protracted.

The U.K. is a net importer of energy and, as such, vulnerable to spikes in global natural gas prices despite sourcing most imported gas from Norway rather than the Gulf.

Accordingly, when QatarEnergy suspended LNG production at the Ras Laffan and Mesaieed industrial cities on Monday, U.K. natural gas futures rose by more than 40%.

The rate of inflation in the U.K. spiked after the shock in energy prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and remained at elevated levels for the next two years.

The response from the government — to subsidize household energy bills — raised public borrowing hugely, the consequences of which are still being felt today, while higher inflation obliged the Bank of England to operate restrictive monetary policy.

Should history repeat itself, that would not be good for gilts or, indeed, U.K. GDP.

Need to know

UK PM Keir Starmer suffers major blow after his party comes third in key vote. The result in Gorton and Denton, in Greater Manchester, is likely to intensify speculation about Starmer’s position,

Rolls-Royce raises outlook, plans up to $12 billion share buyback as engine demand boosts growth. Rolls-Royce shares have been on a tear over the past few years amid growth in all three of its businesses: civil aerospace, defense, and power systems.

Europe struggles to be heard as the war on Iran escalates. Few European officials were told in advance about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, a senior lawmaker with the bloc told CNBC.

— Holly Ellyatt

Coming up

MAR 5: New U.K. car sales for February 

MAR 6: Halifax house price index for February

MAR 10: BRC retail sales monitor for February


Say hello to ‘Bye America!’: Three trades to navigate U.S. Big Tech disruption
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Say hello to ‘Bye America!’: Three trades to navigate U.S. Big Tech disruption