Investing.com – Manufacturing and industrial production in the U.K. fell more than expected in March, declining for a third straight month and dampening optimism over the British economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in March, worse than expectations for a decline of 0.2% and following a drop of 0.3% in the previous month, which was revised downwards from an initial slip of 0.1%.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production increased at rate of 2.3% in March, below forecasts for a 3.0% advance and after rising at a rate of 3.0% in the previous month, which was revised from an initial 3.3% gain.
The report also showed that industrial production fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in March, compared to forecasts for a 0.3% decrease and the 0.8% drop in the preceding month. February’s reading was revised from an initial 0.7% decline.
Year-on-year, industrial production gained 1.4% in March, below expectations for a 2.1% rise and following the 2.5% advance (initially 2.8%) registered a month earlier.
Immediately after the report, which was released simultaneously with the U.K. trade balance and construction output for the same month GBP/USD was at 1.2916 from around 1.2935 ahead of the announcement, EUR/GBP was at 0.8423 from 0.8414 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 147.52 from 147.72 prior to the release.
Meanwhile, European stocks were trading mixed. London’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.04%, the benchmark Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.03%, France's CAC 40 edged down 0.03%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.08%.