Investing.com - The U.K. economy grew in line with expectations in the first quarter, preliminary official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in the three months ended March 31, matching forecasts The U.K.’s economy grew by 0.6% in the preceding quarter.
The growth figures were once again boosted by the services sector, as manufacturing building and farming all registered contractions in the first three months of the year.
Services output rose by 0.5%, while industrial production fell 0.4%, construction shrank 0.9% and agriculture slipped by 0.1%
Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth expanded 2.1% in the first quarter, slightly above the forecast for an expansion of 2.0%. The U.K. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.4583 from around 1.4571 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7764 from 0.7778 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets showed mixed trade though the major benchmarks dropped. London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.23%, the EURO STOXX 50 fell 0.33%, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.01%, while Germany's DAX gave up 0.20%.