Gold prices rose on Wednesday to their highest in nearly two weeks, supported by a weaker dollar following US President Donald Trump’s statement that the war with Iran could wind down ​in weeks.

Chinese firms are ​reselling record volumes of LNG, cashing in on soaring spot prices as China has enough domestic ‌and pipeline gas to meet its own weakened demand, in stark contrast to other Asian buyers scrambling to replace supplies cut off by the Iran war.

OpenAI on Tuesday said that the startup was valued at $852 billion in a freshly closed funding round that raised $122 billion.

The world’s largest importer of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is, paradoxically, also one of the best placed to weather the waterway’s closure.

The dollar index was last down 0.03 percent at 99.70

Brent contract for June fell $3.33, or 3.2 percent, to $100.64 per barrel

Input prices rose at ‌the ⁠fastest rate since August 2024 as the Middle East war drove up energy, raw material prices

China’s factory activity expanded in March at its quickest pace in a year, official data showed on Tuesday, ending a two-month slump as production picked up after the annual Spring Festival holiday.

India’s rupee fell to a record low of more than 95 to the dollar on Monday, before recovering, despite recent efforts by the central bank to stem its fall.

Indonesia’s leader visited Tokyo this week in Asia’s latest flurry of fuel bartering efforts to offset crippling shortages caused by conflict in the Middle ​East, a key source of regional energy supplies.

The dollar headed for its biggest monthly gain since July on Tuesday and stands out as the strongest so-called ​safe asset, as war in the Middle East has set oil prices surging, nearly everything else sinking and raised the risk ‌of global recession.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Monday lambasted the World Trade Organization after high-level talks ended with a failure to extend a years-long ban on customs duties for e-commerce.

Euro zone inflation soared past the European Central Bank's 2 percent target this month as surging oil and gas costs drove up headline prices, but ​the jump was smaller than expected and core inflation declined, muddying the picture for policymakers.

The US national average retail ​price of gasoline crossed $4 a gallon for the first time in more than three years on Monday, data ‌from price tracking services GasBuddy showed, as the US-Israeli war with Iran continued to roil global energy markets.

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Oil is the clear ​outperformer, surging roughly 90 percent this quarter to above $100

Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war

Both main oil contracts fell Tuesday, though West Texas Intermediate and Brent were still sitting well above $100 a barrel.

Iran’s annual inflation rate rose to 50.6 percent by mid-March, up three percentage points from the previous month, the country’s official statistics centre said on Sunday.

Oil companies will have to look further afield for new fossil fuel resources now that the Iran war has dented the investment allure of the energy-rich Middle East. Higher oil prices will give them that chance.