ONS data on Tuesday showed the UK household saving rate fell to 8.9% of disposable income in Q1 from 9.6% in the prior quarter, as households stepped up spending ahead of the Middle East conflict. The ONS said the drop was mainly driven by higher housing, utilities and restaurants & hotels outlays. The ONS confirmed Q1 output growth accelerated, with output up 0.6% (unrevised), while real household disposable income per capita declined 0.8% in Q1.

Qiangrui Technology said its inner manifold central-distributor is primarily used inside Rubin server compute trays, with one distributor required per tray; the unit has high value and a large addressable market. As Rubin server cabinet shipments increase, the company’s order intake is expanding rapidly, though Rubin cabinets have not yet reached mass-shipment scale; the company expects related orders to rise substantially. Qiangrui is also supplying corrugated-hose modules for Rubin cabinets, advancing validation of additional liquid-cooling components, preparing capacity expansion to meet rapid order growth, and cooperating with customers on R&D, validation and pilot production for the next-generation Rubin Ultra central distributor.

Kremlin says its stance on the new Ukraine peace proposal remains unchanged from Russian President Putin's 2024 statement.