Investing.com - The U.K. economy grew more than expected in the third quarter though economic activity slowed from the previous quarter, preliminary official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in the three months ended September 30, above forecasts for growth of 0.3%. The U.K.’s economy grew by 0.7% in the preceding quarter.
Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth expanded 2.3% in the third quarter, also above the forecast for an expansion of 2.1%. The U.K. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the second quarter.
Additionally, the index of services in the U.K. rose 0.8%, in line with consensus expectations and after a prior gain of 0.6%.
The third quarter data is the first measure of growth after the U.K.’s June 23 referendum that resulted in Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), known as a Brexit.
The ONS indicated that there were few signs of a pronounced effect from the Brexit on the economy, but added that it was still too early to tell the effect of sterling depreciation on the data.
Immediately following the report, sterling initially reacted to the upside. GBP/USD was trading at 1.2257 from around 1.2240 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8904 from 0.8917 earlier and GBP/JPY changed hands at 128.30 compared to the prior 128.05.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.16%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.19%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.11%, while Germany's DAX traded up 0.31%.