Investing.com - The U.K. economy grew in line with preliminary estimates in the first three months of the 2016, in line with expectations, although business investment unexpectedly fell, data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by a seasonally adjusted 0.4% in the first quarter, unchanged from an initial estimate and in line with expectations. The U.K.’s economy grew by 0.6% in the preceding quarter.
Year-over-year, U.K. economic growth grew 2.0% in the three months ended March 31, worse than forecasts that had expected no changes from the preliminary reading of 2.1%. The U.K. economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.1% in the fourth quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile, business investment unexpectedly fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in the first quarter. Analysts had expected a gain of 0.1%. That followed a decline of 2.0% in the preceding quarter.
The data showed that first quarter private consumption registered a 0.7% gain compared to expectations for a 0.5% and and the prior 0.6% increase, while government spending rose 0.4% in line with expectations and slightly above the prior 0.3%.
Additionally, the index of services in the U.K. rose 0.6%, in line with consensus and after a prior gain of 0.8%, which was revised up from an initial reading of a 0.8% advance.
Immediately following the report, GBP/USD was trading at 1.4723 from around 1. 4722 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.7588 from 0.7587 earlier and GBP/JPY exchanged hands at 162.00 compared to the prior 161.97.
Furthermore, European stock markets traded with mixed signs. London’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.05%, the EURO STOXX 50 slipped 0.08%, France's CAC 40 advanced 0.15%, while Germany's DAX traded up 0.38%.