A suprise upward revision for UK growth in the fourth quarter of 2014
Economic growth in the UK for the fourth quarter of 2014 was revised higher on Tuesday, indicating the country’s prospects at the tail-end of last year were better than previously thought.
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UK gross domestic product for the final quarter of last year was revised up by 0.6% from 0.5% previously by the Office for National Statistics.
The upward revision was better than estimates of an unchanged reading. The British pound rose 0.2% from $1.4765 to $1.4788 against the US dollar. Against the euro, the pound rose to a day's high of 72.62p per unit of the common currency.
Meanwhile, UK 10-year Gilts were flat at 120.58 while the FTSE 100 index in London was off 0.4%.
"The latest economic news suggest that growth has picked up again since the start of the year, with the CIPS surveys pointing to quarterly GDP growth of about 0.7% in Q1. We still expect solid GDP growth this year of 3%," said Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
The latest reading of GDP comes after the UK budget and before the May general elections which are too tight to call, pressuring financial markets. On Monday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Queen to dissolve parliament, officially kicking off campaigning.