Britain is in talks with EU partners to release additional strategic fuel reserves, including diesel, if needed, the BBC understands. The talks come after President Donald Trump threatened to ban diesel exports from the US in a bid to reduce record prices at the pumps for Americans. Diesel prices in the UK also hit record highs this week and are hovering just under 200p per litre, according to motoring organisation the RAC. The US is a vital supplier of diesel to the world, exporting between 1.2 and 1.5 million barrels per day, with experts warning a ban on shipments abroad could put further pressure on prices in other countries. We're thinking about it very seriously, Trump said of an export ban at the weekend.

Wall Street's Nasdaq hits all-time high as AI frenzy gathers pace Share Wall Street's Nasdaq hits all-time high as AI frenzy gathers pace on social media Wall Street's Nasdaq stock exchange has hit an all-time high, shrugging off concerns about AI safety risks, sky-high tech valuations and the energy shock caused by the United States' war on Iran. The Nasdaq Composite index, which is dominated by US tech giants such as Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft, rose 0.45 percent on Tuesday, taking its gains to date this year to more than 17 percent. The S&P 500, the most popular measure of the overall US stock market, closed essentially flat. Monolithic Power Systems, a Florida-based manufacturer of power circuits, and Canadian e-commerce company Shopify led the gains, surging 8.1 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively. Micron Technology, one of the world's top three memory chip makers along with South Korea's SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, rose 5 percent.

Chip giant Nvidia has set a new sales record, a sign that demand for artificial intelligence remains strong despite fearsthe technology may be overhyped. Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, on Wednesday reported revenue of 46.74bn for the three months that ended in July, a rise of 56 percent year-on-year. Profit for the quarter was 26.42bn, a yearly rise of 59 percent. Nvidia's latest earnings report had been hotly anticipated as the tech giant is widely seen as a barometer of the AI boom, which has lifted the US stock market from all-time high to all-time high. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that production of Blackwell Ultra, Nvidia's latest platform using its most advanced chips, was ramping up "at full speed" and demand for the company's products was "extraordinary".

Nvidia has notched a market capitalisation of 4 trillion, making it the first public company in the world to reach the milestone and solidifying its position as one of Wall Street's most-favoured stocks. On Wednesday, shares of the leading chip designer rose as much as 2.5 percent to an all-time high of 164, benefiting from the continuing surge in demand for artificial intelligence technologies. The stock's recent rally comes despite a sluggish start to the year, when the emergence of a Chinese discount artificial intelligence model developed by DeepSeek shook confidence in stocks linked to the sector. Nvidia achieved a 1 trillion market value for the first time in June 2023 and tripled it in about a year, faster than Apple and Microsoft, the only other United States firms with a market value of more than 3 trillion. Microsoft is the second-biggest US company, with a market capitalisation of 3.75 trillion.

China now has more industrial robots per 10,000 workers than the United States, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). This is the first time China has surpassed the United States in robot density. In 2021, China averaged 322 industrial robots for every 10,000 employees. According to the IFR, China saw a huge jump in robot installations in 2021. The country's industrial robotics market saw 243,300 installations last year, a 44% increase from the year before.

"The use of robotics and automation is growing at a breathtaking speed," says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Within six years, annual robot installations more than doubled. According to our latest statistics, installations grew strongly in 2021 in all major customer industries, although supply chain disruptions as well as different local or regional headwinds hampered production." Asia remains the world's largest market for industrial robots. Installations for the region s largest adopter China grew strongly by 51% with 268,195 units shipped.

The new World Robotics report shows an all-time high of 517,385 new industrial robots installed in 2021 in factories around the world. This represents a growth rate of 31% year-on-year and exceeds the pre-pandemic record of robot installation in 2018 by 22%. Today, the stock of operational robots around the globe hits a new record of about 3.5 million units." "The use of robotics and automation is growing at a breathtaking speed," says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Within six years, annual robot installations more than doubled.

The new World Robotics report shows an all-time high of 517,385 new industrial robots installed in 2021 in factories around the world. This represents a growth rate of 31% year-on-year and exceeds the pre-pandemic record of robot installation in 2018 by 22%. Today, the stock of operational robots around the globe hits a new record of about 3.5 million units." "The use of robotics and automation is growing at a breathtaking speed," says Marina Bill, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Within six years, annual robot installations more than doubled.

It's no secret the technology sector of the stock market has been crushed this year. The Nasdaq 100 index, a widely followed benchmark for high-growth tech companies, has declined by 29% in 2022 so far. But many individual stocks have been hit even harder, particularly those focused on serving consumers because it makes them more vulnerable to the broader economic slowdown. Interest rates have been rising because inflation recently topped a 40-year high, and that's placing a stranglehold on people's spending power. Still, some consumer-centric companies have managed to maintain rapid growth rates in this difficult period.

The stock market is currently on the roughest losing streak since the start of the pandemic in 2020. The broad S&P 500 index is down 19% from its all-time high, putting it within a whisker of bear market territory. But the tech-centric Nasdaq-100 index is already there, with a loss of 28.3% since November 2021. While the investment picture might be nerve-wracking for many investors, history suggests down markets always eventually recover, so this might actually be a great time to put some money to work. Here's one fast-growing stock leveraging advanced technology, and it's worth considering because it's trading at an 88.9% discount to its all-time high, despite the company being highly profitable.