UK growth revised up; Unilever vows to unlock value – as it happened

It was far from convincing, but most European markets managed to end the day in positive territory.

News that François Bayrou was not standing in the French presidential election, and would support rival Emmanuel Macron, gave a lift to the euro, with investors betting that this meant a win for the anti-EU candidate Marine Le Pen could be less likely.

The surge in Unilever’s shares also gave some support to markets. The final scores showed:

• The FTSE 100 finished up 27.42 points or 0.38% at 7302.25
• Germany’s Dax rose 0.26% to 11,998.59 having earlier breached the 12,000 barrier for the first time since April 2015
• France’s Cac climbed 0.15% to 4895.88
• italy’s FTSE MIB fell 0.83% to 18,884.90
• Spain’s Ibex slipped 0.88% to 9477.2

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has recovered from its early falls and has hit a new peak of 20,766, up 23 points.

On that note, it’s time to close for the evening. Thanks for all your comments, and we’ll be back tomorrow.

Some strong housing figures from the US will increase expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates before too long.

Existing home sales climbed by 3.3% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69m units, a ten year high and well above the 5.54m expected by economists. The December figure was revised up from 5.49m to 5.51m. Demand for housing is being supported by a strong employment market, with buyers undeterred by higher prices and mortgage rates.

Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors which released the figures, said:

Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home. Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as homebuyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions.

After consistently hitting new peaks in recent days, US markets have slipped back as investors pause for breath.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 44 points or 0.21% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both opened slightly lower. A dip in oil prices sent energy stocks lower, while there was some profit taking ahead of the latest Federal Reserve minutes.

A second announcement from Unilever just hit the City -- saying it is on track to hit the higher end of its profitability guidance

The company say:

The management of Unilever now expects Core Operating Margin improvement for 2017 to be at the upper end of its 40-80 basis points guidance.

Hello.... consumer good firm Unilever has just issued an intriguing statement to the City.

It says:

Unilever is conducting a comprehensive review of options available to accelerate delivery of value for the benefit of our shareholders. The events of the last week have highlighted the need to capture more quickly the value we see in Unilever.

We expect the review to be completed by early April, after which we will communicate further.

What does this mean? Almost certainly, the Anglo-Dutch giant is planning to cut costs, and possibly selloff non-core divisions (maybe the spreads arm?), before Kraft Heinz can come back with a better takeover offer in six month’s time.

Even though Unilever managed to defy Kraft Heinz’s first takeover approach last week, the company’s management must be disconcerted by the whole affair.

And although Unilever’s major shareholders remained loyal to CEO Paul Polman, some must be wondering if their investment should be sweated a little...

Newsflash: Britain’s government is drawing up proposals for how it could intervene when a foreign company tries to buy a UK firm.

It’s a timely move, with Unilever having just told Kraft Heinz where it can stick its £114bn takeover offer.

Business secretary Greg Clark made the pledge during a speech at the EEF’s annual conference in London today, telling delegates that:

“We will be setting out some proposals in the weeks ahead.”

Clark was also quizzed on Brexit, but didn’t shed much new light on the government’s strategy:

Business investment in the UK fell by 1.5% during 2016, a decline of £2.7bn, according to new ONS figures.

That’s the first annual decrease in business investment since 2009, after the financial crisis.

The ONS says firms cut their investment in buildings, machinery, and information and communication technology.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady fears the knock-on impact on productivity, employment and wages.

“It’s very worrying to see that business investment is already falling with the challenges of Brexit ahead. If this trend continues, working people will pay the price through weaker wages and fewer jobs.

“Despite a modest boost to public investment last year, UK investment still lags behind the world’s leading industrial nations. With private sector investment in retreat, the Chancellor must focus on closing the gap with our competitors in next month’s budget. This would help protect jobs and wages, and it would give a much needed boost to business confidence.”

This chart shows how business investment has been lacklustre recently.

Britain’s economic growth was less impressive when you adjust for population changes.

GDP rose by 0.5% on a per-head basis in the last quarter, and is now 1.8% above its pre-crisis peak in 2008.

Overall, Britain’s economy is 8.6% larger than before the financial crisis struck - making it one of the better-performing G7 economies.