"The fact that the dominant services activity saw a decent rebound in July from June's distorted drop is a significant boost to third quarter growth hopes"
- Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight
The U.K. index of services grew at its fastest pace since May 2011, adding signs that nation's economy may return to growth in the third quarter of 2012. Britain's services industry expanded 1.1 per cent from June, when it fell 1.5 per cent, helped by the Olympic ticket sales. On the monthly basis, Index of Services jumped to 0.1%, up from -0.1% in the preceding month.
"The fact that the dominant services activity saw a decent rebound in July from June's distorted drop is a significant boost to third quarter growth hopes," said Howard Archer, an economist at IHS Global Insight in London.
"While the latest news on the services sector is largely encouraging, they still face challenging conditions that are likely to limit their activity in the near term at least."
The FTSE 100 Index edged higher 0.25 per cent to 5,756.41. The broader FTSE All-Share Index advanced 0.34 per cent to 3,008.95.
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