Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 slips, down 58 points at 7,554
- UK economy grows 0.2% in quarter to June, above forecasts
- Emis soars as CMA provisionally clears UnitedHealth (NYSE:UNH)'s purchase
Sterling rises, investors should "strap in" for more rate hikes
The pound has pushed higher after the better-than-expected GDP figures.
Sterling is up 0.25% at $1.2704 as traders bet the data gives the Bank of England more freedom to keep interest rates inflated for some time yet.
Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV) analyst Matt Britzman commented: ""UK investors look to have taken June's positive inflation print as a sign of hope, and today's GDP read should add to that, with scores for both economic growth and investor confidence rising in early August after three months of consecutive declines."
"But there's no escaping the fact the UK's inflation performance sticks out like a sore thumb compared to other global economies, and investors should strap in for further rate hikes."
Markets are pricing in a 70% probability of a further quarter-point increase in September and a 30% of a pause.
Last week the central bank slowed the pace of its tightening cycle, lifting interest rates by 0.25 percentage points to 5.25%.
Emis soars as CMA provisionally clears United Health deal
One share on the move is Enis Group PLC, up a whopping 25% after UnitedHealth's purchase of the healthcare software and services provider was provisionally cleared by the UK's competition watchdog.
The UK Competition & Markets Authority said it found no competition concerns, with a final decision due early October.
In a statement, the CMA said the deal is not "expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in relation to the supply of medicines optimisation software or population health management services in the United Kingdom."
Recession risk avoided for now but not for long says Capital
Some more reaction to the GDP figures.
Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics thinks while a recession has so far been avoided we are not out of the woods just yet.
Indeed, she believes the UK is still heading for a mild recession later in the year.
"With much of the drag from higher interest rates still to come, we are sticking to our below-consensus forecast that the UK is heading for a mild recession later this year," Gregory said.
She said June's rise was mostly due to the return to the normal number of working days in June after May’s bank holiday for the King’s Coronation. "It makes the economy look stronger than it really is," she said.
The extra bank holiday, unusually warm weather and strikes all contribute to make it hard to judge the "true health of the economy," she said
"But our sense is that underlying activity is still growing, albeit at a snail’s pace," Gregory added.