Investing.com - U.K. construction sector activity expanded at a faster rate than expected in July, fuelling optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said that their U.K. construction purchasing managers' index declined to a seasonally adjusted 62.4 last month from a reading of 62.6 in June. Economists had expected the index to fall to 62.0 in July.
Housing activity remained by far the best performing construction category, with the latest rise in output the sharpest for over a decade.
Meanwhile, sharp increases in overall construction activity led to a new survey-record pace of job creation and a further rapid lengthening of suppliers’ delivery times in July.
Commenting on the report, Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit and author the report, said, “Overall the survey adds to the view that construction companies have performed impressively so far this summer, which raises the likelihood that the sands of time could wash away the construction weakness seen in the preliminary second quarter GDP release.”
Following the release of the data, the pound turned higher against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD easing up 0.04% to trade at 1.6829, compared to 1.6820 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mixed. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.1%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 picked up 0.3%, while Germany's DAX shed 0.4%.