Financial news

• Trump’s tariffs are rattling Australian markets. Here’s what not to do to protect your investments

  10-04-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Anxious about your investment or retirement portfolio? Manage these common human reactions to avoid making a volatile situation worseElection 2025 live updates: Australia federal election campaignGet our afternoon election email, free app or daily news podcastGlobal share markets, including in Australia, have recorded large swings ever since Donald Trump released his “liberation day” tariff plans.Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 witnessed its steepest one-day fall on Monda
  
  Read more

• UK government may extend domestic energy grants to heat batteries

  10-04-2025 16:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Scheme in England and Wales covers only heat pumps, uptake of which has been slowThe UK government is considering expanding the boiler upgrade grant scheme for England and Wales to cover sources of low-carbon heating for domestic homes other than heat pumps, the Guardian understands.The government has a target of 600,000 heat pump installations annually by 2028. But data from the Resolution Foundation on Wednesday revealed worryingly low uptake of heat pumps. Last year, installation of gas boile
  
  Read more

• State pension age expert explains how it works and when you'll get yours

  10-04-2025 15:43 via express.co.uk
  
  A state pension age expert explains how it works and when you'll get it
  
  Read more

• Barclays cuts rates on some mortgages to below 4% amid US tariffs turmoil

  10-04-2025 14:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Bank is largest UK lender to cut rates in apparent response to turbulence, and experts predict others will followBarclays has become the largest UK lender so far to cut its mortgage rates in apparent response to the financial turmoil sparked by the US trade tariffs, with some deals now priced at below 4%.It is the first “big six” lender to enter the sub-4% fixed-rate market after similar announcements by some smaller lenders earlier this week, leaving brokers wondering whether this w
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The best power banks and battery packs for reliable charging on the go, tested

  10-04-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Forever running out of juice? Top up your battery-powered devices with our expert picks, from tiny smartphone chargers to portable power banks and even a power hat• The best iPhones in 2025: which Apple smartphone is right for youIt’s disempowering when your smartphone, laptop or other important gadget runs out of battery. With the flash of a graphic or a plaintive bleep, we lose a way to entertain ourselves, get things done, stay in touch or even get home safely. There’s a time
  
  Read more

• Barclays set to cut some mortgage rates below 4% on Friday

  10-04-2025 13:32 via express.co.uk
  
  The new rates come as fixed rate mortgage offers fall more widely across the market.
  
  Read more

• Rachel Reeves deals another blow to pensioners with £2.7k in extra bills

  10-04-2025 13:12 via express.co.uk
  The cost of living a comfortable retirement has shot up in the last four years, new research has discovered.
  
  Read more

• WASPI women smash crowdfunding milestone in fight for pension justice

  10-04-2025 12:32 via express.co.uk
  
  The Women Against State Pension Inequality are fighting for compensation recommended by a government watchdog.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• China’s new tariffs on US goods take effect as Asian markets rally after Trump’s tariff reversal – business live

  10-04-2025 07:41
  
  China’s 84% retaliatory tariffs on US goods, announced on Wednesday, are due to come into effect on ThursdayRead the latest full reportChina and the European Union have exchanged views on strengthening their economic and trade cooperation in response to US tariffs, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday, according to Reuters news agency.In a video call on Tuesday, China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao discussed with European trade and economic security commissioner Maros Sefc
  
  Read more

• Trump is pushing the world into recession. By learning the lessons of 2008, we can still prevent it | Gordon Brown

  10-04-2025 07:00
  
  As I discovered then, global problems need international responses. By working together, we can protect jobs and living standardsThis is the first in a two part series on the global response to Donald Trump’s tariffsNo more than a narrow window of opportunity remains if we are to prevent an unnecessary global recession. As China and the US decouple, disruptive trade wars are intensifying and threaten to descend into currency wars; import, export, investment and technology bans; and financi
  
  Read more

• Gordon Brown calls for ‘economic coalition of the willing’ to tackle Trump tariffs

  10-04-2025 07:00
  
  Former PM says it is also the moment for the UK to go even further in renewing ties with the EUTrump is pushing the world into recession. By learning the lessons of 2008, we can still prevent it | Gordon BrownGordon Brown has called for an “economic coalition of the willing” to respond to Donald Trump’s tariffs with coordinated economic policies, including a reduction of interest rates.The former prime minister also said it was a moment for the UK to go even further in renewing
  
  Read more

• Gas boiler fittings outnumbered heat pumps by 15 to one in UK last year – report

  10-04-2025 07:00
  
  Poorer households shut out of heat pump market and grants should be increased to speed up rollout, thinktank saysGas boiler fittings outnumbered new heat pump installations by more than 15 to one last year, and only one in eight new homes were equipped with the low-carbon alternative despite the government’s clean energy targets.Poorer households are also being shut out of the heat pump market as the grants available are inadequate and should be increased, according to a report by the Reso
  
  Read more

• Price of parking rises steeply due to English councils’ clean-air surcharges

  10-04-2025 06:00
  
  AA says ‘cash-guzzling’ councils are adding clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permitsDrivers are being caught out by hefty price rises to park their cars, as councils across England impose parking surcharges on petrol and diesel vehicles.An estimated one in five councils now add clean-air levies to parking tariffs and resident parking permits to deter polluting vehicles. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Germany is finally getting a new government – and it will be plunged straight into crisis mode | John Kampfner

  10-04-2025 06:00
  
  With the country enveloped in gloom and facing mayhem from the US and Russia, it’s hard to imagine a more fraught time to take powerGermany is about to get a new fitness trainer. So declared Markus Söder, one of the political leaders who have just announced a coalition agreement. In one of the quirks of the country’s constitution, the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) will play a significant role in the new administration, and Söder used his moment in the limelight to p
  
  Read more

• Energy demands from AI datacentres to quadruple by 2030, says report

  10-04-2025 06:00
  
  The IEA forecast indicates a sharp rise in the requirements of AI, but said threat to the climate was ‘overstated’The global rush to AI technology will require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today, but only about half of the demand is likely to be met from renewable sources.Processing data, mainly for AI, will consume more electricity in the US alone by 2030 than manufacturing steel, cement, chemicals and all other energy-intensive goods combined, accor
  
  Read more

• Rats, rubbish and rising taxes: why Birmingham stinks right now – podcast

  10-04-2025 04:00
  
  Why have the city’s bin collectors gone on strike? Jessica Murray reports“It’s been absolutely unbelievable,” William Timms, a pest controller, tells Hannah Moore.“Since March, calls have gone up 50%. Usually, I’m dealing with about three or four rodent jobs a day this time of year. And then I’ve got my insect jobs on top. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Elon Musk’s xAI powering its facility in Memphis with ‘illegal’ generators

  10-04-2025 03:07
  
  Advocacy group says the firm has doubled the number of methane gas burning turbines it’s using without permitsKeShaun Pearson took a seat in front of the Shelby county board of commissioners in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday morning. In the gallery behind him, a small group of people held up signs that said “Our air = our lives” and “Our water, Our future.” With a manner-of-fact demeanor, Pearson addressed the commissioners.“I’m here because today we&r
  
  Read more

• Royal Mail trials postbox with parcel hatch, solar panels and barcode scanner

  10-04-2025 01:01
  
  Five new boxes in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire enable company to cash in on boom in secondhand sellingRoyal Mail has unveiled a solar-powered “postbox of the future” with a built-in barcode reader and a hatch to accept parcels larger than letterbox size.In the “biggest change to postbox design since their introduction more than 175 years ago”, the hi-tech pillar box looks as if it is wearing a jaunty beret. The black, chequered lid is in fact solar panels that power t
  
  Read more

• Netflix and co should pay levy to fund crisis-hit UK drama sector, say MPs

  10-04-2025 01:01
  
  British stories risk disappearing from small screen as public broadcasters struggle to compete with streaming servicesNetflix, Amazon and other streaming services should pay a levy to fund the crisis-hit UK drama sector, MPs have said, following concerns that their dominance could see “distinctly British” stories disappear from the small screen.The cross-party culture, media and sport committee said new tax breaks should also be used to help fund UK dramas produced by the BBC, ITV an
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!