Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.12%, to $94.76 a barrel by 0949 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1 cent, or 0.04%, to $90.26

International News via Reuters:

Oil prices were little changed on Wednesday after climbing to more than one-month highs earlier in the session as traders weighed the risk of supply disruptions following overnight U.S. and Iranian strikes against signs that crude supplies continue to reach the market.

Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.12%, to $94.76 a barrel by 0949 GMT and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 1 cent, or 0.04%, to $90.26.

Brent crude and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude earlier climbed to their highest levels since July 24, reaching session highs of $97.04 and $92.29 a barrel, respectively.

“The market is facing a binary risk,” said Saxo Bank head of commodity strategy Ole Hansen.

“An announcement that a deal has been reached, or that progress is being made, could send prices tumbling, while any escalation would further undermine the prospect of a peace deal. That’s why oil remains highly volatile, with a potential $5 move in either direction on fresh developments.”

The U.S. and Iran were back on a war footing on Wednesday after the most significant exchange of fire in weeks, with Washington threatening more devastating strikes.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the U.S. attacks would further restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway that carried about one-fifth of the global oil consumed before the conflict and which Iran has effectively closed to commercial shipping.

Two oil tankers hit sea mines and were disabled while attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday, in a statement shared by state media.

“Ship-to-ship transfers in recent weeks has meant that some oil has continued to be exported through the Strait of Hormuz, alleviating some of the pressure on the oil market. However, these flows are at high risk of being disrupted by military strikes,” said Hamad Hussain, senior climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said on Tuesday that 17 million barrels of oil transited the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, saying it marked the highest level of crude oil to pass through the waterway since the Iran war had reduced flows.

“If the conflict escalates further and there is even greater disruption to shipping in the Middle East, Brent crude prices could feasibly rise beyond $100,” Hussain added.

Elsewhere, Russia carried out a “massive” missile and drone attack on energy infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern region of Odesa overnight, transmission system operator Ukrenergo said on Wednesday.

Reporting by Siddharth Cavale, Trixie Yap and Anushree Mukherjee; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Jamie Freed, Alexandra Hudson

The deal includes seven brands — Nature’s Bounty, Osteo Bi-Flex, Ester-C, Gard, Nuun, Puritan’s Pride and Sisu — and the U.S. private-label supplements business

International News via Reuters:

Nestle on Tuesday agreed to divest Holistic Health platform, its mainstream vitamins, minerals and supplements (VMS) business, to private equity firm Yellow Wood Partners for $1 billion, according to a statement from the two companies.

The deal includes seven brands — Nature’s Bounty, Osteo Bi-Flex, Ester-C, Gard, Nuun, Puritan’s Pride and Sisu — and the U.S. private-label supplements business, the Swiss food giant said in its statement.

“We are focusing our resources where we have the strongest competitive advantage”, Nestle CEO Philipp Navratil said, adding that “the mainstream VMS business requires a different approach under dedicated ownership”. 

The deal, which is expected to close by the first half of 2027, is Yellow Wood’s sixth acquisition from major consumer companies since 2019.

The Boston-based firm acquired lip balm brand ChapStick from Haleon in 2024, and Unilever’s non-core beauty and personal care division Elida Beauty in 2023. 

Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Joyjeet Das

The U.S. tech giant, which plans to roll out the opt-out globally, declined to comment and referred to its June 3 blog post on the topic

International News via Reuters:

EU antitrust regulators are seeking feedback from publishers on Google’s proposal to let them opt out of AI search without affecting their rankings in search results, a questionnaire seen by Reuters showed.

The publishers’ feedback could determine the outcome of an ongoing EU investigation that could result in yet another hefty fine for Google if the proposal fails to address competition concerns and publishers’ worries about unfair use of their content.

Google announced its AI opt-out for publishers in June, the same day the UK antitrust watchdog ordered it to allow publishers the option to stop their content being used to power its AI features.

The U.S. tech giant, which plans to roll out the opt-out globally, declined to comment and referred to its June 3 blog post on the topic.

Its AI Overviews, which are AI-generated summaries that appear above traditional hyperlinks, have triggered EU antitrust complaints by publishers concerned about falling traffic and declining revenues.

The EU questionnaire, sent out in July with an August 28 deadline for replies, asked if publishers will make use of the opt-out and the factors influencing their decision.

The document also asked publishers for their views on changes to Google’s search box announced in May which included bringing AI Overviews and AI Mode into one AI Search.

The world’s most popular internet search engine has racked up more than 10 billion euros in EU antitrust fines for various violations over nearly two decades.

Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Cynthia Osterman