UK economy

In early European session today, the UK sterling recovered from its late Asian session's loss against other major currencies and spiked higher after a report showed at 4:30 am ET that the UK economy grew at its fastest pace in nine years in the second quarter of this year.

The U.K. economy shrank less than previously estimated in the third quarter as a jump in construction and fixed investment brought the longest recession on record closer to ending.

Gross domestic product fell 0.2 percent from the second quarter, compared with a previous measurement of a 0.3 percent drop, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 24 economists was for a 0.1 percent contraction. The recession has now shaved 6 percent off GDP, the statistics office said.