Forexpros – The U.K. economy contracted more-than-initially estimated in the final three months of 2011, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.K.’s Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product contracted at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.3% during the fourth quarter, compared to a preliminary estimate of a 0.2% contraction.
Annualized GDP rose at a rate of 0.5%, below expectations for growth of 0.7%.
The downward revision was driven by the output measure, with additional weakness in the transport and communications sector, and the financial services sector, which was partly offset by some additional strength from the health services sector.
Following the release of that data, the pound added to losses against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD shedding 0.19% to hit 1.5919.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mixed to lower. London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 slumped 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.1%, while Germany’s DAX eased up 0.1%.
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