Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations deteriorated to the worst level in 15 months in October, dampening optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations decreased by 2.0 points to a reading of minus 6.0 this month from September’s reading of minus 4.0.
Analysts had expected the index to hold steady at minus 4.0 in October.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, said, "The manufacturing sector is clearly facing headwinds. Global political instability, mounting concerns about weakness in the Eurozone and recent rises in Sterling are all weighing on export demand.”
GBP/USD was trading at 1.6014 from around 1.6016 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7905 from 0.7906 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mixed. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.4%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 advanced 0.45%, France's CAC 40 inched up 0.35%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.55%.