Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations deteriorated sharply in January, dampening optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations tumbled by 14.0 points to a reading of minus 2.0 this month from December’s reading of 12.0. Analysts had expected the index to decline by 2.0 points to 10.0 in January.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
Following the release of that data, the pound trimmed gains against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD inching up 0.01% to trade at 1.6429, compared to 1.6445 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.1%, the EURO STOXX 50 added 0.45%, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.25%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.35%.