A lawmaker urged Wall Street's top regulators Wednesday to investigate unusual trading activity in oil and equity futures markets. The request specifically targets trading patterns that emerged shortly before President Donald Trump postponed military strikes against Iran last month, raising potential market manipulation concerns.

The unusual trading activity appears concentrated in energy and equity derivatives markets during a critical geopolitical moment. Markets often react to geopolitical tensions, but the timing of these specific trades has drawn attention from lawmakers who suspect possible insider trading or market manipulation benefiting from advance knowledge of the administration's decisions.

This call for investigation comes amid heightened scrutiny of how financial markets respond to geopolitical events and whether regulatory oversight needs strengthening. The SEC faces increasing pressure to examine whether market participants had non-public information about the Iran situation before the public announcement of the strike postponement.