Six months after the U.S. and Israeli bombing of Iran triggered a conflict, disruptions to Gulf energy supplies and Strait of Hormuz shipping have reshaped oil, food and financial markets. Brent crude briefly topped $120 in April and has averaged about $90 in 2026, compared with roughly $70 last year. Refined fuels, especially diesel, have been hit harder by middle-distillate shortages, Russian refinery outages caused by Ukrainian attacks and lost Gulf exports, while increased U.S. refinery output and exports eased some jet-fuel concerns. Global equities have largely absorbed the shock as artificial-intelligence investment lifted MSCI's 47-country world stocks index to a record $105 trillion this month, up almost $7 trillion, or 9%, since the war began; Gulf stocks underperformed. Fidelity analyst Pranav Aggarwal said the rally suggested investors held a relaxed view and still expected the war to end this year, noting stocks were up about 14% for the year versus a typical 8% to 9% annual gain. Traditional safe-haven assets have been inconsistent: the dollar rose 1.4% against a basket of major currencies, U.S. Treasuries lost 3.5% on a total-return basis, and gold fell nearly 25% from the start of the war to July before rebounding more than 15% this month. Gold had nevertheless more than trebled since 2022, when Western powers froze Russia's central-bank reserves after its invasion of Ukraine. Fertiliser disruptions, a strong El Niño and war-related grain-shipping problems have pushed food prices to a more than three-year high in July, with the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warning of renewed food inflation. JPMorgan estimates that a strong El Niño alone could raise global food inflation by around 0.7% at its peak. The Gulf has borne the direct economic damage: Saudi Arabian exports fell 10% between the first and second quarters, Dubai property sales dropped an estimated 70% to 80%, and Qatar's economy could shrink almost 30% this year because of damage to its Ras Laffan gas facility. Qatar and UAE stocks fell about 14%, underperforming world stocks by more than 20 percentage points, while Bahrain's credit-default-swap prices rose almost 40%.