The U.K. economy expanded by a better-than-expected 0.3% in the second quarter, according to preliminary estimates from the U.K.'s Office for National Statistics out on Thursday.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected the country's gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by a tepid 0.1% over the period, up from bumper growth of 0.7% in the first quarter.

Month-on-month, the economy grew 0.4% in June after a 0.1% contraction in May , failing to shake off the impact of U.S. tariffs and business uncertainty.

"The economy was weak across April and May, with some activity having been brought forward to February and March ahead of Stamp Duty and tariff changes, but then recovered strongly In June," Liz McKeown, director of Economic Statistics at the ONS, commented Thursday. Stamp duty r

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