Britain’s recovery remains on track amid fears over growth in the Chinese economy

Official figures revealed gross domestic product grew by 0.6 per cent in the three months to the end of last month, following a 0.3 per cent increase in the previous three months – the first time the UK has seen back-to-back quarterly increases since 2011.

But the FTSE 100 Index was 32.5 points lower, to close at 6588.

Rolls-Royce continued to power ahead. The company rose five per cent, or 60p, to a multi-year high of 1240p after a 15 per cent rise in its order book to almost £70bn as its pre-tax profits rose 34 per cent to £840m during the first six months of the year.

Shares in BT were two per cent lower as higher restructuring costs pushed bottom-line profits down 16 per cent to £449m in its first quarter. But underlying figures were slightly better-than-expected, with profits up five per cent to £595m. It said that more than half a million people have signed up to its new sport channels before the launch next month. Shares were 7.6p lower at 334.4p.

Miners were hit hard by the China growth concerns due to fears over a drop off in demand, with Fresnillo leading the sector’s falls, down 44p to 1025p.

Drinks firm SAB Miller, maker of Miller Genuine Draft and Peroni Nastro Azzuro, was also in the red as it said cold weather hit demand for its beers across developed markets, slowing the rate of revenue growth to two per cent in its first quarter. SAB shares fell 80p to 3160p.

Unilever joined it on the fallers board with a fall of 42p to 2676p after signalling slowing growth in its emerging markets, which overshadowed an 18 per cent rise in first half pre-tax profits to 3.7 billion euros (£3.2bn) on a constant currency basis.