With less than one week to go until Election Day, a national poll showing Donald Trump with a narrow lead over Hillary Clinton sent global financial markets tumbling Wednesday, as both candidates focused on scrapping for votes in battleground states.

Iran boosted its oil exports to 2.44 million barrels per day in late October as it regains market share lost during years of international sanctions, its oil minister said Wednesday.

"Oil exports reached 2.44 million bpd in late October, one of the highest levels ever," the Mehr news agency quoted Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying.

Qatar said it expects "100 percent compliance" from businesses by the end of 2016 on a labor reform introduced to ensure the country's vast migrant workforce receive their salaries on time.

Government figures released in Doha on Wednesday to mark the one-year anniversary of the introduction of the Wage Protection System (WPS) show that 1.8 million -- around 85 percent -- of Qatar's 2.1 million workforce are now paid electronically.

UN-Habitat Lebanon hosted an “Urban Crisis Response Conference” to examine and discuss the plethora of challenges facing Lebanon’s urban population.

Under the patronage of the Ministry of Social Affairs, and on the occasion of the World Cities Day 2016, the Conference focused on building a platform for exchange between various stakeholders engaged in urban response.

Qatar's emir said Tuesday that the super-rich Gulf state must tackle its "culture of consumption" as it deals with the sharp decline in world energy prices.

In a speech to mark the opening session of Qatar's Advisory Council, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also called for the elimination of "extravagance and waste" as the emirate faces its first budget deficit in 15 years.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday called for more investment to revive the economy of Tunisia, home country of the Arab Spring, calling it a "strategic priority".

The largest gasoline pipeline in the United States remained shut off Tuesday in the southern state of Alabama following an explosion that killed one and injured five, as crews battled to control the resulting wildfire.

Bombshells notwithstanding, US stock markets still see a victory by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the less likely outcome of the November 8 vote, analysts say.

But if he does defeat Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, the reaction could be dramatic. What is less clear is whether that initial post-vote market reaction will last. 

Japan's central bank on Tuesday again pushed back the timeline for hitting its inflation goal, the latest policy change that has raised questions about its attempt to revive the deflation-plagued economy.

The Bank of Japan has for more than three years embarked on a bond-buying stimulus programme to try to keep interest rates ultra-low and increase borrowing and spending.

Saudi Arabia on Monday sacked its veteran finance minister as the kingdom undergoes a major economic restructuring because of lower oil revenues.