Investing.com - Manufacturing production in the U.K. fell sharply in February after having bounced back for the first time in three months in January, dampening optimism over the country’s economic outlook, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production decreased by a seasonally adjusted 1.1% in February, far worse than expectations for a decline of 0.2% and following an increase of 0.5% a month earlier, that was revised down from an initial read of a 0.7% gain.
On an annualized basis, manufacturing production fell at rate of 1.8%, worse than estimates for a decline of 0.7% and the biggest decline since July 2013. It decreased at a rate of 0.3% in January.
The report also showed that industrial production declined by a seasonally adjusted 0.3%, surprising forecasts for a gain of 0.1% and following a rise of 0.2% in the preceding month.
Year-on-year, industrial production decreased 0.5% in February, above expectations of a 0.2% drop and after the 0.1% increase registered in January, revised from an initial gain of 0.2%.
In an immediate reaction to the report, the pound showed weakness. GBP/USD was at 1.4110 from around 1.4131 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8068 from 0.8056 earlier.
European stocks continued trading broadly higher. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.51%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.92%, France's CAC 40 traded up 0.65%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.76%.