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Households yet again face the prospect of even higher electricity bills after the cost of power jumped more than 20 per cent in the last quarter on the back of a renewable energy shortage and coal-fired power station outages. The price surge threatens to undermine Labor’s promise to cut $275 from bills by 2025.

Meanwhile, audit and consulting giant ­Deloitte Australia says it plans to buy more businesses and increase its operations on expectations of an economic recovery in the second half of the year, even as it unveiled a $150m slump in ­revenue.

And investors have piled into JB Hi-Fi and Wesfarmers, propelling both stocks to record highs, as tax cuts, wage increases, government subsidies and baby boomer spending help consumer discretionary retail become the best performing sector on the ASX this month.