Energy bills in the UK are set to increase more than expected in April as regulator Ofgem said the energy price cap would rise by 6.4%.
This is off the back of increased wholesale costs, putting the figure above the 5% predicted by energy consultancy Cornwall Insights.
This would push the average annual household bill up from £1,738 to £1,849 and is the third consecutive quarter prices have risen, not helping the government’s ambition to reduce inflation and drive economic growth.
Energy bills in the UK are set to increase more than expected in April as regulator Ofgem said the energy price cap would rise by 6.4%.
Technology sector news
In results released on Wednesday, Nvidia announced that both profits and revenues jumped last quarter as demand for chips continued off the back of sustained artificial intelligence spending. Sales increased 78% year on year to $39.3bn, and net income rose 80% to $22.1bn.
Despite the concerns raised last month by Chinese start-up DeepSeek and some initial snags following the rollout of the latest-generation Blackwell chips, chief executive Jensen Huang says there is still “amazing” demand for the newest chips. The share price rose almost 4% before the release of the results, which were reported after Wall Street closed, but then dropped 8.5% on Thursday as part of a wider sell-off in technology stocks after threats of further trade tariffs from Donald Trump.
Sales increased 78% year on year to $39.3bn, and net income rose 80% to $22.1bn.
Corporate news
Donald Trump hosted the first cabinet meeting of his second presidential term on Wednesday, where he announced he intends to levy 25% tariffs on imports from the EU, as he reiterated the unbalanced economic relationship between the US and the bloc. Trump said the tariffs would apply on “cars and all other things.”
The European Commission responded saying the EU would “react firmly and immediately against unjustified barriers to free and fair trade”, suggesting they would retaliate with their own tariffs.
The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar in early Thursday trading at $1.0467. So far, the tariffs Trump has said he would impose on Canada, Mexico, and China have yet to come into effect, only those against Beijing have been implemented.
Our specialist's final thought
"The euro was down 0.2% against the dollar in early Thursday trading at $1.0467."
