London stock market flirts with record highs as figures suggest Britain has emerged from recession

The London stock market flirted with record highs yesterday as figures suggested Britain has emerged from recession.

In a welcome boost to investors with money in shares, ISAs and pensions, the FTSE 100 rose as high as 8044 before giving up some of the gains to close up 0.9 per cent, or 71.78 points, at 7995.58.

That was near to the highest close of all-time – the 8014 reached in February last year.

The rally came as official figures showed the UK economy grew by 0.1 per cent in February this year following expansion of 0.3 per cent in January.

The report, from the Office for National Statistics, suggested that the economy has emerged from recession having contracted in the third and fourth quarters of last year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the figures were ‘further evidence that the economy has turned a corner’.

Tory strategists are counting on a recovery in the economy – fuelled by falling inflation and tax cuts – to boost the party’s chances in the general election expected later this year.

Susannah Streeter, an analyst at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, said growth in January and February ‘added to hopes that the UK’s recession is in the rear-view mirror’.