Investing.com - U.K. construction sector activity expanded at the fastest pace in four months in June, fuelling optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said that their U.K. construction purchasing managers' index improved to a seasonally adjusted 62.6 last month from a reading of 60.0 in May. Economists had expected the index to decline to 59.5 in June.
The headline index has now posted above the 50.0 no-change threshold for 14 months running and the latest reading signaled the strongest pace of overall output growth since February.
Stronger new order volumes and ongoing efforts to boost operating capacity contributed to the steepest rise in employment levels since the survey began in April 1997.
Commenting on the report, Time Moore, senior economist at Markit and author the report, said, “The latest survey suggests that the U.K. construction sector has expanded by more than 1% over the second quarter of 2014, driven by improvements in the underlying health of the economy, favorable funding conditions and robust increases in new housing starts.”
Following the release of the data, the pound added to gains against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.14% to trade at 1.7173, compared to 1.7151 ahead of the data.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained mixed. London’s FTSE 100 tacked on 0.2%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.2%, France’s CAC 40 shed 0.1%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.25%.