Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations improved more than expected in February, fuelling optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations increased by 6.0 points to a reading of 10.0 this month from January’s reading of 4.0. Analysts had expected the index to rise by 2.0 points to 6.0 in February.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5447 from around 1.5440 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7380 from 0.7382 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mixed. London’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 inched up 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 tacked on 0.35%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.15%.