Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations improved more than expected in June, underlining 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 rose by 11.0 point to a reading of 11.0 this month from May’s reading of 0.0. Analysts had expected the index to improve by 3.0 points to 3.0 in June.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
Katja Hall, CBI Director-General, said, “Demand for British made goods remains buoyant and that’s helped drive this quarter’s further rise in output. However, the recent rise in Sterling could impact on the resilient export orders we’ve seen lately.”
Following the release of that data, the pound held on to gains against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.14% to trade at 1.7017.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. London’sFTSE 100 rose 0.8%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rallied 1.1%, France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.9%, while Germany's DAX tacked on 0.8%.