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Oracle shares jump ahead of opening bell on cloud computing boost
Shares in Oracle have jumped by nearly 32% before the opening bell on Wall Street, after the business software company got a big boost from its cloud computing business.
The Austin, Texas-based company forecast that revenue from its core cloud division will exceed half a trillion dollars over the next few months.
Investors have been betting big on AI-driven cloud firms. Oracle’s rivals are seeing rapid cloud growth as well, reflecting how rising enterprise demand for AI infrastructure is fuelling a broader lift across the industry. The results lifted shares of several US chipmakers in pre-market trading, with AMD up around 3% and Nvidia 2.2% higher.
Russ Mould, investment director at the stockbroker AJ Bell, said:
Oracle shares soared amid optimism about AI-related revenue, sending a strong message to the broader market that the tech revolution is still red hot. That had a positive read-across to Nvidia which advanced 2% in pre-market trading.
Oracle said on Tuesday that it had signed four multi-billion-dollar contracts with three customers in the first quarter, signalling booming demand for its low-cost cloud infrastructure services. Chief executive Safra Catz said:
Over the next few months, we expect to sign-up several additional multi-billion-dollar customers and RPO is likely to exceed half-a-trillion dollars.
The company forecast Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) revenue growth of 77% to $18bn this year, and $144bn in the following four years.
Analysts at the research firm Morningstar said:
Oracle’s relationship with esteemed artificial intelligence firms, such as OpenAI, as well as its participation in Stargate, puts it center stage for AI training and inference workloads.
The company has struck deals with Amazon, Google owner Alphabet and Microsoft to run OCI within their clouds, with revenue from these clients up 1,529% in the first quarter.
Oracle expects second-quarter revenue to rise by 12%-14%, including cloud revenue growth of between 32% and 36%.
Oracle logo. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/ReutersShare
Updated at 11.53 BST
An estimated 64.5% of adult Brits are overweight or living with obesity, yet more than 71% (48 million people) say weight loss injections are out of reach.
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro drugs are available on the NHS, but are limited to people with high clinical need.
Now, with Mounjaro prices surging by up to 170% in the UK, some patients, who buy the drug privately, will be paying nearly three times more for their treatment.
Mounjaro users reacted with dismay to when its manufacturer, Eli Lilly, announced a price increase in the UK from September, as we reported last month. Many people are worried they will be unable to continue using the medication, raising concerns for their mental and physical health.
But even before the price hikes, affordability was an issue. A survey by the online pharmacy ZAVA showed that
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49% of Brits (nearly 33 million people) can only afford to spend up to £80 a month, far below Mounjaro’s new £170–£310 range.
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With Wegovy’s highest dose (2.4mg) now capped at £189.99, a steep price but experts say it could offer a more accessible option for patients than Mounjaro
Dr. Crystal Wyllie, ZAVA doctor, said:
We’re seeing record interest in these drugs, but price and strict NHS eligibility criteria mean many are left without safe, regulated access. Cheaper alternatives like Wegovy can help, but ongoing support is key.
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Junk food leads to more children being obese than underweight globally
Here’s our full story on Wegovy and Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk making job cuts as it struggles against competition from Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro jab and cheaper generic versions:
It comes as a UN report found that more children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time – a sad milestone. It warned that ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets.
There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases.
Catherine Russell, executive director of the UN agency for children, said:
When we talk about malnutrition, we are no longer just talking about underweight children.
Obesity is a growing concern. Ultra-processed food [UPF] is increasingly replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a time when nutrition plays a critical role in children’s growth, cognitive development and mental health.
While 9.2% of five to 19-year-olds worldwide are underweight, 9.4% are considered obese, the report found. In 2000, nearly 13% were underweight and just 3% were obese.
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Updated at 10.46 BST
Rise in energy prices leaves 1m UK households behind on bills
About 1m households are behind on their gas and electricity bills with no repayment plan amid a rise in energy debt over the past decade, according to a new report.
The Resolution Foundation thinktank found that the number of customers in energy debt has increased and the size of their debts has risen. It found that between 2012 and 2024 the average gas and electricity debts more than doubled to £1,400 and £1,600, respectively, from an average of approximately £500.
The number of customers behind on their electricity bills, with no repayment plan, has more than tripled from 300,000 in 2012 to more than 1m at the end of last year, the report found. The number of customers who are behind on their gas bills also tripled from 300,000 to 900,000 over the same period.
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UK contactless payments could go above £100 or become unlimited
Contactless card payments could go above £100 and potentially become unlimited under proposals to allow banks and other providers to set their own limits for customers.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Wednesday that the proposal to scrap the current limit would provide shoppers with more convenience and card providers “the flexibility to decide the right limit for them and customers”.
The UK financial watchdog has been consulting on giving banks the option of raising or removing the £100 cap, which would mean shoppers no longer need to enter a four-digit pin to authorise big purchases, since March.
Customers are also currently unable to make more than £300 of touch-free payments in a single day.
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European Green Party heartened by Ursula von der Leyen’s green remarks
Lisa O’Carroll
Ciarán Cuffe, co chair of the European Green Party, said he was heartened to hear Ursula von der Leyen make an unexpected return to the narrative of the green deal.
After a year or more of pressure from centre right and far right political interests to abandon environmental targets, von der Leyen, president of the European Commission in Brussels, told MEPs:
We must stay the course on our environmental goals. This is a must.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a major state of the union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France, Wednesday, 10 September. Photograph: Pascal Bastien/AP
Cuffe told the Guardian:
It was good to hear her mention the European green deal because she has tended to use the phrase clean industrial deal ad nauseam in the past year, so it was good to hear her going back to the ‘green deal’.
She is obviously under pressure to from the EPP [European People’s Party], including from chancellor Merz looking for flexibility for the car industry, but it was very interesting to hear her call for small affordable cars. If we don’t do that Asia will win the race to go electric.
Luca de Meo, the former boss of car giant Stellantis, has previously called on Europe to follow the Japanese example to make what is known as “Kei cars” – a distinct class of small cars which come with incentives such as reduced taxes and parking costs.
But yesterday the German chancellor Friederich Merz weighed in on the side of the Germany car industry, urging Brussels to consider “flexibility” around the 2035 target for phasing out the sale of new petrol cars.
This set Germany up for a clash with Nordic brands Polestar and Volvo, which say they should not be punished just because the Germans have been slow to adopt to change.
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European stocks eke out modest gains; Russian rouble fells to five-month low
In financial markets, the FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares is broadly flat at 9,250, up by 8.7 points. The German and French stock markets edged by 0.1% higher, while the Italian borsa slipped by 0.17%.
The Russian rouble fell to a five-month low against the US dollar, crossing the 85 rouble mark, after drones from Moscow’s attack in western Ukraine were shot down in Polish airspace.
General Wieslaw Kukula (C),Chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces attending an emegency meeting hosted by Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk (not in image) in Warsaw after Russian drones violated Polish airspace. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
The rouble fell by 1.6% to 84 against the dollar at one stage. It has lost 5% against the dollar since the start of the week. Analysts pointed to an expected interest rate cut by the Russian central bank on 12 September, rising demand for imports and the threat of new western sanctions on Moscow.
Bank of St Petersburg analysts said:
Fears of sanctions, coupled with expectations of a rate cut, continue to put pressure on the Russian currency.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine spread to Nato territory in the most significant way since the full-scale invasion more than three years ago. You can follow the latest on our Europe live blog here:
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Zara owner reports weaker-than-expected sales in ‘complex’ market
The fashion company behind Zara has reported weaker-than-expected sales after a slowdown in growth at the retail chain.
The boss of Inditex, the world’s largest fashion retailer, insisted it reported a “solid” performance in the face of “complex” market conditions. Inditex said sales picked up in recent weeks after the launch of its autumn and winter collections, which were “very well received by our customers”.
A woman carries a bag from Spanish multinational retail clothing chain Zara, the flagship brand of the Inditex clothing company, Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters
The Galicia-based retailer, which also owns the Pull & Bear and Bershka brands, said sales grew by 1.6% to €18.4bn (£15.9bn) in the six months to July. Sales were up 5.1% after adjusting for currency rates. Sales of €10.08bn in the second quarter came in below the €10.26bn expected by analysts.
Sales for the group’s flagship Zara business grew slightly to €13.15bn, however this was a slowdown, amid pressure on household finances.
Inditex reported a pick up in sales more recently, with 9% growth across its stores and online between 1 August 1 and 7 September.
Oscar Garcia Maceiras, chief executive of Inditex, said:
We have again achieved a solid performance in this first half of 2025, with satisfactory sales in a complex market environment and keeping strong levels of profitability.
The efficient execution accomplished by our teams demonstrates the strength of Inditex’s business model.
Separately on Wednesday, Primark owner Associated British Foods said like-for-like sales in the second half would be 2% below the same period last year, amid “consumer caution”. It flagged a “more subdued consumer environment in Europe and trading was weaker, while performance in the US was strong”.
Over the year as a whole, the company expects Primark’s like-for-like sales growth to be around 1%, with its store rollout programme driving total sales growth of around 4%.
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Updated at 09.48 BST
Anthony Codling, housing analyst at RBC Europe, said:
PRS [private rented sector housing] investors continue to drive a hard bargain leading to tough decisions on volumes versus margins. We continue to believe that an investment in Vistry is a big call on the speed and scale of deployment of public sector funding, so far it has been a trickle rather than a torrent, with £150m out of £39bn coming Vistry’s way.
We expect that figure to grow over time, but we cannot say by when and by how much. If the government does look to stimulate the open housing market, Vistry, with a focus on social and affordable homes, will not benefit as much as the more traditional mainstream housebuilders, who in our view offer a more attractive valuation, yield and risk profile.
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Vistry Group shares plunge 8% after profits halve
Shares in Vistry Group, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilders, plunged after its first-half profits more than halved.
The company, which owns Bovis Homes, Countryside and Linden Homes, said its pre-tax profit in the first six months of the year fell to £40.9m from £91.2m a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, profits fell by a third to £80.6m.
It completed 6,889 homes, down 12% from the 7,792 completed a year earlier. Revenues fell by 5% to £1.6bn.
Vistry shares fell as much as 8% to 555p, and are now down 3.7%.
However, Vistry was upbeat, after forming a long-term joint venture with the UK’s housing agency earlier this week. Homes England and the company have created a new vehicle, called Hestia, backed by a combined £150m of capital investment. Last year, the government pledged to build 1.5m homes in this parliament, over five years, with a focus on social and affordable housing.
In June, then-housing secretary Angela Rayner announced a massive boost to the government’s affordable housing programme, almost doubling funding to £39bn over the next decade.
Greg Fitzgerald, the Vistry chief executive, said:
The new social affordable homes programme provides an unprecedented level of funding for affordable housing over the next 10 years. Through our partnership model and commitment to mixed tenure development, Vistry is uniquely placed to maximise this opportunity and play a key role in delivering high-quality affordable homes across the country.
Vistry now specialises in building social and affordable homes for its partners. The company pre-sells at least 50% of new homes on its developments to housing associations, local authorities, and private rented sector providers.
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Updated at 09.55 BST
US supreme court to decide on legality of Trump’s sweeping global tariffs
The news comes after the US supreme court agreed on Tuesday to decide the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, setting up a major test of one of the Republican president’s boldest assertions of executive power that has been central to his economic and trade agenda.
The justices took up the justice department’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of his tariffs under a federal law meant for emergencies. The court acted swiftly after the administration last week asked it to review the case, which involves trillions of dollars in customs duties over the next decade.
The court, which begins its next nine-month term on 6 October, placed the case on a fast track, scheduling oral arguments for the first week of November.
The justices also agreed to hear a separate challenge to Trump’s tariffs brought by a family-owned toy company, Learning Resources.
The US court of appeals for the federal circuit in Washington ruled on 29 August that Trump overreached in invoking a 1977 law known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose the tariffs, undercutting a major priority for the president in his second term. The tariffs, however, remain in effect during the appeal to the supreme court.
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More on the proposed Trump tariffs on India and China.
According to the Financial Times, a second US official said Washington was prepared to “mirror” any tariffs on China and India imposed by the EU, potentially leading to a further increase in US levies on imports from both countries.
Trump’s proposal comes as the White House is getting frustrated with its efforts at brokering a peace deal and Russia’s recent heavy aerial attacks on Ukraine.
“The president came on this morning and his view is that the obvious approach here is, let’s all put on dramatic tariffs and keep the tariffs on until the Chinese agree to stop buying the oil. There really aren’t many other places that oil can go,” the first US official said.
The US president later told reporters he expected to have a call with Russian president Vladimir Putin “this week or early next week”.
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Introduction: Trump reportedly asks EU to levy 100% tariffs on India and China; Novo Nordisk to cut 9,000 jobs
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Donald Trump has reportedly asked the EU to levy tariffs of up to 100% on India and China, in order to increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
The US president made the demand after he dialled into a meeting on Tuesday between senior US and EU officials gathered in Washington, the Financial Times, Bloomberg News and other media reported. One US official said, according to the FT:
We’re ready to go, ready to go right now, but we’re only going to do this if our European partners step up with us.
Meanwhile, Ozempic and Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk announced that it will cut 9,000 jobs and trimmed its profit forecast for this year, as it struggles against competition from US rival Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro weight loss injection.
The job cuts amount to 11% of the drugmaker’s workforce of 78,400. About 5,000 of the job losses will happen in Denmark.
Novo Nordisk said the move would save 8bn Danish kroner (£930m) a year, although it will also lead to one-off costs of 8bn kroner this year. As a result, it expects to deliver operating profit growth of 4% to 10% at constant exchange rates, down from 10%—16%.
It is the first major move by Mike Doustdar, an Iranian-born Austrian-American businessman, who took over as chief executive last month. Novo Nordisk – which had become Europe’s most valuable company on the back of the weight loss drug boom – recently lost two thirds of its market value following disappointing drug trial results and slowing sales.
Doustdar said:
As the global leader in obesity and diabetes, Novo Nordisk delivers life-changing products for patients worldwide. But our markets are evolving, particularly in obesity, as it has become more competitive and consumer-
driven. Our company must evolve as well.
It is always difficult to see talented and valued colleagues go, but we are convinced that this is the right thing to do for the long-term success of Novo Nordisk. We need a shift in our mindset and approach so we can be faster and more agile. Our transformation plan is designed to deliver this.
Studies have shown that Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro is more effective than Wegovy in reducing weight. Novo’s Ozempic injection is also available on the NHS, as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.
Asian stock markets rose while government bonds fell, after weaker US labour market data heightened expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut of at least a quarter point next week.
Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.87% higher while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed by 1.1% and South Korea’s Kospi rose by 1.67%.
US government bonds fell for a second day on Wednesday, pushing yields higher. The yield, or interest rate, on the benchmark 10-year Treasury rose by 1 basis point to 4.088%, after climbing almost 3 basis points on Tuesday. The equivalent Japanese bond yield rose by 0.5 basis points to 1.565%.
The Agenda
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8am BST: Spain Industrial production for July
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9am BST: Italy Industrial production for July
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10am BST: UK Treasury gilt 2031 auction
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1.30pm BST: US producer prices for August
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Updated at 09.07 BST