Proactive Investors - 7.32am: GDP stagnated in June
Digging into today’s GDP data, the ONS figures show the economy is estimated to have stagnated in June.
The unrevised figures also reiterated that April saw no growth, while GDP ticked up by 0.4% in May.
Confederation of British Industry economist Ben Jones commented: “After a strong performance in May, a slowdown in GDP growth was always on the cards for June.
“But a second successive quarter of above-trend growth suggests the UK economy has finally shaken off its slumber of recent years.
“We think the quarterly data probably overstates the underlying momentum in the economy, with recent CBI surveys of activity remaining fairly subdued. But firms nonetheless appear confident that the recovery will continue.”
7.22am: UK economy grows in second quarter
Office for National Statistics data on Thursday morning confirmed the UK economy grew over the second quarter.
GDP expanded by 0.6% during the three months to June, following a 0.7% rise during the second quarter.
This was as the service sector grew 0.8%, offsetting declines across the production and construction industries.
Compared to a year earlier, real GDP is estimated to have climbed 0.9%, according to the ONS.
7.16am: FTSE 100 set for positive start
London’s blue chips were seen higher on Thursday morning, set to build on Wednesday’s 45-point gain as inflation data from both the UK and US refrained from dealing any blows.
Attention turned to GDP on Thursday, with preliminary Office for National Statistics data showing the UK economy expanded by 0.6% over the three months to June.
This was after a 0.7% uptick seen over the first quarter, with growth across the service sector offsetting declines in both construction and production.
Asian markets saw a mixed performance overnight, with both Japan’s Nikkei 225 and India’s Nifty Fifty racking up slight gains.
In London, Admiral Group (LON:ADML) PLC is due to report on Thursday morning, before retail sales figures come out in the US, alongside Walmart Inc (NYSE:NYSE:WMT, ETR:WMT)’s latest update.