Automotive sector aids UK economy growth

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Prosperity Investment Management provides you with a weekly update from markets across the globe.

Official data has shown that the UK economy grew 0.4% in February, helped by an uptick in factory output led by the automotive sector alongside retail and wholesale output. The 2.9% contraction that the economy suffered in January was revised to a 2.2% slowdown.

In the US, most of the major benchmarks recorded their fourth consecutive week of gains and moved to record highs whilst economic signals also seemed supportive. March retail sales, reported on Thursday, grew by 9.8% - the most since May. Gains were broad-based and reflected both the continued reopening of restaurants and other retail operations, as well as a recovery from a 2.7% pullback in February due to the exceptionally severe weather.

China’s economy surged 18.3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2021, albeit versus a very low base in 2020 when stringent shutdowns were imposed to contain the initial COVID-19 outbreak. Earlier in the week, China's Customs reported that exports rose 30.6% in March in U.S. dollar terms - exports were a key growth driver for China in 2020.