Investing.com – Manufacturing and industrial production in the U.K. rose less than expected in April, underlining concern over the British economy despite breaking three straight months of declines, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, worse than expectations for a gain of 0.9% and following a drop of 0.6% in the previous month.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production remained unchanged in April, below forecasts for a 0.7% advance and after rising at a rate of 2.2% in the previous month, which was revised from an initial 2.3% gain.
The report also showed that industrial production advanced by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, compared to forecasts for a 0.8% increase and the 0.5% drop in the preceding month.
Year-on-year, industrial production fell 0.8% in April, worse than expectations for a 0.2% decline and following the 1.4% advance 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 1.2724 from around 1.2735 ahead of the announcement, EUR/GBP was at 0.8780 from 0.8784 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 140.37 from 140.47 prior to the release.
Meanwhile, European stocks were trading higher. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.47%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.23%, France's CAC 40 traded up 0.25%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.35%.