Investing.com - The U.K.’s goods trade deficit widened more than expected in July, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said the country's goods trade deficit rose to a seasonally adjusted £11.08 billion from a deficit of £8.51billion in June. Economists had expected the goods trade deficit to widen to £9.5 billion in July.
Exports of goods decreased by £2.3 billion to £22.8 billion, the lowest export figure since September 2010. This is attributed to decreases in semi-manufactures, specifically chemicals, of £1.0 billion and finished manufactures of £0.8 billion.
Imports of goods increased by £0.3 billion to £33.9 billion over the same period.
U.K. trade data shows the extent of import and export activity, a key contributor to the overall economic growth of the U.K.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5366 from around 1.5394 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7275 from 0.7260 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.7%, the EURO STOXX 50 rose 2%, France's CAC 40 added 2.1%, while Germany's DAX rallied 1.7%.