Gold and silver plummet heres why Iran war is hammering prices

Gold and silver futures plummeted Thursday to one-month lows after a historic metals rally earlier this year as the Iran war crushed hopes for interest rate cuts anytime soon.Precious metals are seen as a safe-haven asset thanks to their ability to hold value while other assets fall, and typically spike alongside fears of inflation, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions – all of which have been heightened around the US and Israel’s war on Iran.But gold saw its seventh-straight loss Thursday, down to $4,588.70 an ounce – a far cry from its peak above $5,600 in January.Silver futures also fell to $70.39, from a recent high of about $120.“The conventional wisdom says wars are supposed to be bullish for precious metals, but the Iran conflict is doing something the textbooks don’t cover – it is pricing in inflation and pricing out rate cuts simultaneously,” Tracy Schuchart, senior economist at NinjaTrader, told The Post.Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for 20% of the world’s energy supply, has pushed oil prices above $100 a barrel – which Schuchart called “a straight inflation accelerant.”National average gasoline prices have jumped to $3.88 a gallon, according to AAA, and analysts have warned the shock could ripple across consumer prices – potentially reheating inflation and combining with slow growth to create a toxic mix known as “stagflation.”“There is no chance the Fed is going to be able to cut rates and that is being realized by metals markets today, and that is why the selling in gold is so pronounced,” Ken Mahoney, CEO of Mahoney Asset Management, told The Post.Though Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said he thought the use of the term “stagflation” was too extreme, the central bank on Wednesday all the same kept interest rates unchanged in the 3.5% to 3.75% range – firmly in wait-and-see mode as it raised its inflation forecast.Policymakers forecast just one rate cut in 2026 – a bad move for...