Investing.com - Manufacturing production in the U.K. rebounded in January after three straight months of declines, boosting optimism over the country’s economic outlook, official data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in January, blowing past expectations for a gain of 0.2% and following a decline of 0.3% a month earlier, that was revised from an initial read of a 0.2% drop.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production fell at rate of 0.1%, better than estimates for a decline of 0.7%, after falling at a rate of 1.7% in December.
The report also showed that industrial production also rebounded by a seasonally adjusted 0.3%, below forecasts for a gain of 0.5% and following a decline of 1.1% in the preceding month.
Year-on-year, industrial production rose 0.2% in January, in line with expectations and after the 0.2% drop registered in December, revised from an initial decline of 0.4%.
In an immediate reaction to the report, GBP/USD was at 1.4229 from around 1.4224 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7710 from 0.7715 earlier.