Morning Highlights: Oil Prices Rise; Apple Teams Up with LG to Develop Smart Home Devices

Brent crude rose 0.9% to $101.5 per barrel amid Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and concerns about shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Apple, in partnership with LG, is developing a line of smart home devices, including a video doorbell, a thermostat, a smart lock, and cameras, all of which will work with the company’s new home hub. Read about these and other topics in our roundup of key events as of the morning of October 7.

Oil prices rose on Wednesday amid concerns about new supply disruptions from the Middle East, according to CNBC. Brent futures for December delivery rose 0.9% to $101.52 per barrel, while WTI futures for November delivery rose 0.8% to $90.16.

The market is reacting to attacks by Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia and an increase in Iranian attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, physical shipments are gradually resuming: by Tuesday morning, 5.8 million barrels had been pumped through the Saudi “East-West” oil pipeline.

Apple is working with LG Electronics to expand its smart home ecosystem. The companies have developed a video doorbell, a thermostat, a smart door lock, a temperature sensor, as well as indoor and outdoor security cameras and a camera with a spotlight, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. The devices will work with Apple’s new home hub, the updated HomePod mini, and the new Apple TV set-top box, which the company plans to unveil on October 13.

The accessories will be released under the LG brand, which will also handle manufacturing and support. Many of the devices support Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thread, and Matter, while the lock supports UWB for automatic unlocking when a user approaches. The new lineup will be part of the HomeKit relaunch and will intensify competition between Apple and LG against Amazon Ring and Google Nest.

Anthropic will grant trusted organizations access to its most advanced models, including Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Claude Mythos 5.1, so they can conduct high-risk offensive testing of systems that protect critical infrastructure—such as power grids, banks, and aviation systems, according to Bloomberg.

The new program will expand Project Glasswing, which was launched in April and under which U.S. government agencies, banks, and major software developers were granted limited access to Mythos. New participants will be vetted in collaboration with the U.S. government, the agency notes.

Donald Trump said he is considering temporarily suspending the federal gas tax to lower Americans' fuel costs ahead of the midterm elections in November, according to Bloomberg. The tax currently stands at 18.4 cents per gallon, but repealing it would require a decision by Congress, the agency notes.

According to estimates by the Bipartisan Policy Center, repealing the tax could lower gasoline prices by about 10–16 cents per gallon. However, the federal budget would lose billions of dollars a month: revenue from the tax is used to fund roads, bridges, and public transportation.

— Japan's broad-market Topix index fell 0.5%, while the Nikkei 225 fell 0.7%.

— Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 0.6%. Stock exchanges in mainland China are closed for the holidays.

— In South Korea, the Kospi fell 1.1%, and the Kosdaq fell 1.8%.

— Australia's S&P/ASX 200 remained virtually unchanged.

— Futures on the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 were virtually unchanged, while those on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor