By James Sillars, business reporter

A piece of good news to bring you: a welcome fall in oil costs.

A barrel of Brent crude started the week close to $88.

It is trading at $85 today after three days of declines – the latest in Asian trading today.

The major move lower, however, came yesterday afternoon.

Analysts credited increasing hopes of a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East and on rising US crude inventories and production.

It's been another positive start to the day for the FTSE 100 - rising 0.1% to 8.157 points in early deals.

The index has started higher each session this week but, in truth, it has struggled to make big inroads since last week's record closing high.

Banks and miners are leading the way.

Next, however, was among the fallers despite posting a strong rise in full price sales.

The first quarter increase of 5.7% was above market expectations but the retailer, usually renowned for keeping expectations low and over-delivering, maintained its guidance for annual sales and profits.

Its shares were 1.2% lower.

Among the fallers in the wider market was Aston Martin Lagonda.

The luxury carmaker's stock was almost 9% down after posting bigger than expected quarterly losses.

EasyJet passengers were left scrambling to rebook flights after they were wrongly told their flights were cancelled "due to Israel". 

The airline sent emails and text messages to holidaymakers informing them their flights would not be taking off on 28 April as planned - before scrambling to let them know, an hour later, that there had been a mistake.

Amid the confusion, travellers shared their frustration on social media, with one asking: "Is this a scam? EasyJet App is not showing cancellation and has allowed me to check in."

The airline has since released a statement confirming their was a technical error.

"EasyJet can confirm that unfortunately, on 28 April, some customers received an incorrect notification stating that their flight on 30 April was cancelled," a spokesperson told Sky News.

"This was due to a technical error and all customers were quickly sent updated messages with a confirmation their flight is operating as normal. We would like to apologise for this and any inconvenience caused."

Shifting expectations for UK interest rate cuts have contributed to a dip in house price growth, according to a closely watched measure.

Nationwide reported a 0.4% fall in average property costs last month compared with March, taking the annual rate of growth to 0.6% from 1.6%.

Economists polled by the Reuters news agency had expected month-on-month growth of 0.2%.

The lender's report said the easing reflected "ongoing affordability pressures, with longer term interest rates rising in recent months, reversing the steep fall seen around the turn of the year".

Read the full story here...

Every Wednesday we get Michelin chefs, top bloggers or critics to pick their favourite Cheap Eats where they live and at home. This week we speak to one of the most renowned chefs in the UK, Galton Blackiston of the Michelin-starred Morston Hall in Norfolk.

He's gone the extra mile in his Cheap Eats at home - uploading a how-to video to Instagram.

Hi Galton, can you tell us your favourite places in Norfolk where you can get a meal for two for less than £40?

Allium in Downham Market, a family run restaurant which involves mum, dad, Joe in kitchen and James front of house. Open Wednesday through to Sunday, it has a great vibe on a Saturday evening and great food.

Bure River Restaurant, a tiny restaurant on the broads in Horning cooking lovely fish dishes.

Final cheap place is the Parlour in Binham, where they have a great restaurant and you put money into an honesty box for their local cheese from the village and raw milk from their farm - a great place to visit in Norfolk.

What's your go-to cheap meal at home?

Toad in the hole with a baked potato and hispi cabbage and onion gravy.

A good tip I would say is to colour off the sausages in dripping then pour over the batter, which should be eight eggs, 250g plain flour, one pint of full fat milk, salt pepper and nutmeg. Whisk together and allow to sit for an hour til you use. 

And this is how you do the hispi cabbage with cling film over the pan...

Flight prices often rocket in the summer, but it turns out particular dates can prove cheaper. 

Research by Expedia has revealed the best dates to book your trips... 

The cheapest times to fly 

If you're flying domestic, the best dates for your wallet are 28 July, 19 August and 23 August. 

Expedia also recommends booking your domestic flights for a Wednesday to save roughly 20%. 

For those travelling internationally, the cheapest dates are 2 and 13 June, and 28 August. 

When it comes to booking, you can save about 15% if you book for a Thursday versus at the weekend. 

The quietest times to fly

If you care more about a quieter airport, the least busy dates for flying domestic are 10 June, and 11 and 19 July. 

For international flights, the best dates are 4 June, and 27 and 30 August. 

And the dates to avoid...

The most expensive domestic flights are on 30 June, and 8 and 16 July. 

International flights are pricier on 22, 23 and 29 July. 

Meanwhile, Expedia says 30 June and 24 July will be the busiest air travel days for domestic and international destinations. 

Domestic flights are busiest on 30 June, and 8 and 16 July. 

For international flights, 10, 21 and 24 June are the busiest. 

The advertising watchdog has banned a Premier Inn ad for misleading claims about room prices. 

A paid-for search ad for the hotel chain, seen on 4 November, had stated: "Premier Inn Edinburgh - rooms from only £35 per night."

It was referred to the advertising watchdog after a reader complained they couldn't find any rooms at the advertised price. 

Whitbread Group, trading as Premier Inn, provided the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) with data showing there were a total of 377 rooms on offer for £35 in Edinburgh within the 365-day booking window.

But the ASA said customers would understand the ad to mean a significant proportion of rooms available would be £35.

Read the full story, including Premier Inn's response, here...

Taxpayers will be forced to cover £85bn of losses made by the Bank of England on its quantitative easing programme, estimates suggest. 

The £895bn bond-buying scheme was carried out between 2009 and 2021, and had aimed to support the UK during economic shocks - but it has been blamed by some for allowing inflation to take root. 

Recent chancellors have agreed to indemnify the Bank against any losses on the scheme - meaning the taxpayer will be paying for them.

Greene King is moving from its 200-year-old brewery in Bury St Edmunds. 

The pub chain will be opening a new £40m facility in a town that will produce more modern, fizzy craft beers alongside its traditional cask ales. 

The majority of Greene King's brewing will be moved to the new site, as part of a wider shift away from traditional cask beers. 

It will take about three years to complete. 

Butlin's has launched legal action against its insurance company Aviva over who foots a £60m bill.

The holiday park operator's Minehead resort was forced to close in September 2023 because of flooding caused by heavy rainfall.

It has said the incident cost the business £60m and has filed a claim at the High Court against Aviva for not covering the entire bill.

In legal documents seen by The Telegraph, Butlins have questioned the definition of a "storm" and argued that a "named storm" had not been declared when the flooding happened.

Oil traders working for the US firm Exxon Mobil Corp in Brussels could lose their job if they refuse to move to London, according to reports.

Under the new proposal employees moving to the UK capital would be expected to be in the office five days a week.

But traders working for the oil giant said in an internal union-led survey they did not want to move to London due to "uncompetitive" pay and a "lack of flexibility", a union statement reads, according to Bloomberg.

Up to 37 trading employees now face having their contracts terminated as a result of this.

ExxonMobil has said it "remains open to resolving the situation".

The sports retailer is introducing tagging sprays across its stores nationwide as part of a ramping up of security measures. 

It will start using SelectaDNA sprays, which can be misted on property and criminals. 

The sprays work by leaving a synthetic DNA and UV marker which does not wash off and can be used to link assets to owners and criminals to crime scenes. 

JD Sports said the measure was in response to a significant increase in shoplifting in UK.

In particular, it said it had seen a rise in "steaming" - where large gangs run into stores, threaten staff with violence and then run off with armfuls of stolen products.

The SelectaDNA spray reportedly does not cause any harm or damage to skin, clothing or property.