India, Feb. 13 -- The British pound strengthened against other major currencies in the European session on Thursday, after the U.K. economy expanded unexpectedly in the fourth quarter, underpinned by services and construction output.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the U.K. gross domestic product grew 0.1 percent from the third quarter, confounding expectations for a contraction of 0.1 percent. This follows a nil growth in the third quarter. On a yearly basis, the fourth quarter growth in GDP came in at 1.4 percent compared to 1.0 percent in the third quarter.
The services sector expanded 0.2 percent and construction output grew 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Partially offsetting these gains, industrial produc...