The numbers on European trading screens Tuesday morning told a story of accelerating fear.

European stocks traded sharply lower as the intensifying Middle East conflict continued to crush global investor sentiment. The STOXX Europe 600, the continent’s broadest equity benchmark, extended losses that began Monday. London’s FTSE 100, Frankfurt’s DAX, and Paris’s CAC 40 all fell significantly. Airline stocks, hotel chains, and cruise companies continued their slide. Energy stocks surged on higher oil prices, but the gains were concentrated in a narrow sector while the broader market bled.

The financial carnage extends well beyond stock markets. Brent crude surged past $82 per barrel — its highest level in over a year — up roughly 10 percent since the conflict began. Analysts at multiple investment banks are now modeling scenarios where oil crosses $100, with UBS warning $120 is possible if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed for an extended period.

Gold, the traditional safe-haven asset, is approaching record levels. JP Morgan forecasts it reaching $6,300 per ounce by year-end, driven by geopolitical risks that are “likely to stay on the boil.” The precious metal had already touched $5,594 in January — and the current crisis gives investors every reason to push it higher.

The stock exchanges of the UAE — the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, the Dubai Financial Market, and Nasdaq Dubai — remain closed for a second consecutive day, trapping investors in positions they cannot exit and pricing mechanisms they cannot observe. This lockout affects not just Gulf investors but international funds with significant Middle Eastern exposure.

But the current market moves, dramatic as they are, may represent only the opening act of a much larger financial disruption. The real economic pain — the pain that reaches consumers, businesses, and government budgets — operates on a delayed timeline.

Here is what is coming. Gasoline prices in the United States have already crossed $3 per gallon and are rising. If oil sustains above $90, prices at the pump could reach $3.50 to $4.00 — levels that historically trigger consumer spending cutbacks and complaints to Congress. If oil crosses $100, the economic impact shifts from irritation to genuine hardship for lower-income households that spend a disproportionate share of their income on transportation and energy.

Shipping costs, as measured by the record $424,000-per-day supertanker rates, will flow through supply chains over the coming weeks and months. Everything imported by sea — electronics, clothing, food, construction materials, industrial components — will become more expensive. Companies that operate on thin margins will face a choice between absorbing the costs or passing them to consumers.