The UK economy grew by 0.2pc in April, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
It follows a contraction of 0.3pc in March, with gross domestic product (GDP) growing by 0.1pc in the three months to April.
5 things to start your day
1) Sunak orders banks to protect borrowers from surging mortgage rates | Strong employment figures and stubborn inflation pile pressure on Threadneedle Street
2) Disability benefits bill to jump by £11bn as long-term sickness hits new record | Number of people suffering from depression and severe back pain surges since pandemic
3) EY global chief to leave firm after failed split | Carmine Di Sibio’s departure follows months of internal disagreement at Big Four firm
4) Russian hackers steal data of thousands of Ulez drivers | TfL reveals databases were accessed by cybercrime gang
5) Capita handed £50m to run new fraud hotline despite pensioner data breach | City of London Police awards five year contract to IT outsourcer
What happened overnight
Asian stock markets were mixed after a cooler reading on US inflation buoyed hopes the Federal Reserve will postpone a possible interest rate increase.
The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2pc to 3,241.57 and the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo advanced 1.5pc to 33,495.29. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong lost less than 0.1pc to 19,511.86.
The Kospi in South Korea was off 0.7pc at 2,619.68 and Sydney’s S&P-ASX 200 gained 0.3pc to 7,159.90.
India’s Sensex opened down 0.1pc at 63,071.69. New Zealand declined while Singapore and Bangkok advanced.
Wall Street stocks rallied Tuesday after the US consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.1pc last month following a 0.4pc jump in April with core inflation unchanged at 0.4pc, according to the labour department’s latest report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 0.4pc at 34,212.12. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.7pc to 4,369.01, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 0.8pc to 13,573.32.
Bond yields initially dropped after the inflation report, but later recovered. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 3.83pc from 3.74pc late Monday. The two-year yield, which moves more on expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.69pc from 4.58pc.
