The British pound climbed higher after data showed Britain’s economy grew faster than expected in the third quarter.

Sterling was up by 0.9% at 1.3253 against the US dollar as of 8:55 a.m. ET.

Earlier, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics said that GDP grew by 0.4% in the third quarter of 2017, above expectations of 0.3% growth.

The economy grew by 1.5% in year-over-year terms that quarter, above expectations of 1.4%.

The figures released were “ahead of market expectations and, more importantly, above what the Bank of England had anticipated,” Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in emailed comments.

"This is a very important point as the central bank had previously claimed that as long as the economy performs in line with expectations, it would likely raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting and today's GDP data exceeded expectations, leaving the BoE with little reason not to proceed," he added.

As for the rest of the world, here was the scoreboard at 8:55 a.m. ET:

    The Mexican peso was little changed at 19.2337 per dollar. Separately, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, speaking from the White House through Skype at a lunch sponsored by the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, once again spoke about NAFTA and the US-Mexico Trade deficit. "Before NAFTA came into effect, every year the US had a trade surplus with Mexico, generally ranging between $4 and 5 billion a year," he said. "Guess what our cumulative deficit with Mexico is post-NAFTA? [...] One trillion dollars - with a 'T.' One trillion dollars. That's way too much." Economists at Bank of America argued recently, however, that ripping up NAFTA wouldn't reduce the US' total trade deficit by that much. The Australian dollar was down by 0.9% at .7707 against the US Dollar after disappointing CPI data. CPI climbed by 0.6% quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter, below expectations of a 0.8% advance. On a year-over-year basis, it climbed by 1.8%, below expectations of 2.0%. The euro was up by 0.2% at 1.1782 against the dollar. The German Ifo Business Climate Index jumped to 116.7 in October, up from the prior month's 115.3, and above expectations of 115.2.The US dollar index was little changed at 93.77 after core durable goods orders rose by 0.7% month-over-month in September, above expectations of 0.5%. The Russian ruble was little changed at 57.5968 per dollar, while Brent crude oil, the international benchmark, was little changed at $58.38 per barrel.