AGWOTU NEWS

The U.K. economy grew for the first time in a year in the first quarter of this year, exiting a shallow recession in the second half of 2023. Gross domestic product grew by 0.6 percent in the three months to March and was up 0.2 percent from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in a first estimate for the quarter on Friday. That was stronger than the 0.4 percent expected by analysts ahead of time, due partly to the manufacturing sector performing better than expected in March. Manufacturing output rose 0.3 percent, rather than contracting by 0.5 percent as expected. Advertisement The figures come a day after the Bank of England signaled it's getting closer to cutting interest rates for the first time since the post-pandemic surge in inflation. The better-than-expected numbers, combined with the prospect of rate cuts in the coming months, drove the benchmark FTSE 100 stock index to a new record high at the opening, while the pound inched higher against the d