Oil and gold prices went down after Iran suggested that an attack from Israel might not be as serious as first thought.

Brent crude, which is a measure of international oil prices, went up quickly to more than $90 a barrel after reports of the attack. But then it dropped.

Gold also went up a bit, almost reaching a record high, but it settled at less than $2,400 an ounce.

People are worried that if there's more fighting in the Middle East, it could make it hard to get oil.

Many people were keeping an eye on how Israel would respond to Iran's attack with drones and missiles last weekend.

At first, oil prices went up by 3.5%, but then they fell back to about $87 a barrel when Iranian media said there wasn't much damage in Isfahan province where the attack supposedly happened.

When oil prices rise a lot, it can make things more expensive for everyone. That's because oil is used to make things like gas for cars.

The cost of living has gone up a lot in the past few years partly because energy prices keep going up.

Randeep Somel, who works with investments, said the worry for markets is mostly about inflation, which means things getting more expensive.

Although inflation has been slowing down, in the UK, it's still higher than what the Bank of England wants. Some experts think interest rates won't go down until the summer or later.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, oil prices went up a lot. They hit $125 a barrel, which meant people had to pay more for energy.

Gold prices usually go up when things are uncertain because people think it's a safe way to invest money.

People are worried that if there's more fighting in the Middle East, it might affect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. This is a very important route for oil.

About 20% of all the oil in the world goes through this route. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the UAE send most of their oil through here.

Iran is one of the biggest oil producers in the world and a major member of Opec, which is a group of countries that produce a lot of oil.

When the news about the attack came out, oil prices went up quickly because people were scared about more fighting between Iran and Israel.

Vandana Hari, who knows a lot about energy markets, said this shows that the situation in the Middle East is very unstable.

The stock markets had different reactions to the news. In the US, some went up a bit, while others stayed the same or went down. In the UK, they mostly went down. In Asia, they went down too, especially in Japan.