A surprise rise in GDP for November today boosted hopes that the UK can still avoid a slide into recession.
A World Cup trading boost for pubs and bars helped the economy to edge up by 0.1% in the month, compared with City forecasts for a 0.2% decline.
The improvement comes with the FTSE 100 index within sight of its record high after yesterday’s latest fall in the annual rate of US inflation boosted confidence.
