The dollar index reached the highest level since November due to its safe-haven appeal

The dollar held gains on Friday and was set for its second weekly gain since the beginning of the war ​in Iran as turmoil in markets left it the last safe-haven standing.

The euro traded near its weakest since ‌November while the yen was at levels that put traders on guard for possible intervention by authorities in Japan.

With oil prices surging, the U.S. conceded the sale of some Russian petroleum products that had been sanctioned due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Iran stepped up attacks on ​oil and transport facilities across the Middle East as the country vowed to keep the ​Strait of Hormuz shipping lane closed.

The ⁠IEA on Wednesday agreed to release a record 400 million barrels of oil from strategic stockpiles, which would cover only about 20 days of supply lost due to the disruptions along ​the Strait of Hormuz, and will take weeks or months to reach markets.

For the moment now, the market has got a new focus. ⁠It’s not diversification, it’s inflation, and it’s lower growth, Gavin Friend, senior markets strategist at National Australia Bank in London, ​said on a podcast. It’s the mix, the toxic mix, of higher inflation and lower growth that will come the longer this ​whole crisis stays with us.

The dollar index reached the highest level since November, thanks in part to its safe-haven appeal, but also because the US is a net energy exporter.

The index dropped 0.04% to 99.63 in early trading ​in Asia, poised for a 0.8% gain this week. The euro was up 0.13% at $1.1525.

The yen firmed 0.17% to 159.08 ​per dollar after hitting 159.43 on Thursday, the weakest since January 14. Sterling was up 0.11% to $1.3356.