Unusual bursts of trading on the oil and stock markets this week, just minutes before social media posts on the Iran war by President Donald Trump, have added to suspicions of insider trading linked to his administration.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched an interagency task force to help secure the passage of fertilizers through the Strait of Hormuz, his spokesperson announced on Friday.

Two liquefied petroleum gas tankers, BW Elm and BW Tyr, are crossing the ​Strait of Hormuz bound for India, according to ‌ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler.

Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, which circumvents the Strait of ​Hormuz, is pumping oil at its full ‌capacity of 7 million barrels a day, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the ​matter.

Brazilian beef and chicken exporters expect only limited disruption from the Iran war, even as the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz forces companies to ​reroute shipments and absorb higher costs to keep supplies moving.

The dollar rose on Friday and was on course for its strongest monthly gain in ​almost a year, buoyed by safe-haven demand as the Middle East war intensifies and hopes fade for de-escalation.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that if the energy crisis sparked by the Middle East war dragged on, Germany might have to keep running coal-fired power plants longer than planned.

US officials this week said the historic spike in fuel prices during the war in Iran will be short-term and trumpeted record US production at an industry conference where oil executives and government officials ​from Asia, the Middle East and Europe bemoaned the worst oil and gas supply disruption in decades.

Global oilfield services companies are bracing for a hit to earnings as the Iran war disrupts energy infrastructure across the Middle East and producers hold back ​on new drilling until higher oil prices prove durable.

Oil prices ​rose on Friday and notched weekly gains, reflecting scepticism about prospects for a ceasefire in the ‌month-old Iran war.

Saudi Arabia's East-West pipeline, which circumvents the Strait of ​Hormuz, is pumping oil at its full ‌capacity of 7 million barrels a day, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a person familiar with the ​matter.

Bangladesh remains at “a greater risk” due to heavy reliance on imported fuel and weaker external positions

Six accounts on the betting site Polymarket made $1.2 million on bets that the US would attack Iran on February 28, the day the war began

The South Asian nation is one of the largest debtors to the IMF after Argentina and Ukraine

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war

Oil prices climbed, with the Brent international benchmark rising 4.2 percent to $112.57

China’s Cosco Shipping Lines may not have intended to send a geopolitical message.

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war:

European Union lawmakers on Thursday gave a green light -- with conditions -- to the bloc’s tariff deal with US President Donald Trump, which Europe hopes to salvage while also racing to diversify its trade ties around the globe.

The escalating conflict in the Middle East has knocked the ‌global economy off a stronger growth path, the OECD warned on Thursday, as a near-halt in energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz threatens to push inflation sharply higher.