The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest Industrial Trends Survey revealed that manufacturing activity in the UK continued to weaken in February, albeit at a slower pace than in January with the Orders Index improving to -18 from -22. This reading came in slightly better than the market expectation of -19.
“Manufacturers expect output to recover somewhat in the three months ahead, with predictions for growth improving for the second successive survey,” the publication read.
Commenting on the data, “it is encouraging to see manufacturers reporting some early signs of a turnaround in activity, but it’s probably still too early to say whether we’ve seen the end of the slowdown in the sector,” said Alpesh Paleja, CBI Lead Economist.
GBP/USD reaction
The British pound failed to capitalize on this data and the GBP/USD pair was last seen trading at its lowest level since November at 1.2863, down 0.43% on a daily basis.
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