Investing.com - U.K. industrial order expectations improved more than expected in August, fuelling optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said its index of industrial order expectations increased by 9.0 points to a reading of 11.0 this month from July’s reading of 2.0.
Analysts had expected the index to rise by 2.0 points to 4.0 in August.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates increasing order volume is expected, below indicates expectations are for lower volume.
Katja Hall, CBI Director-General, said, ““The outlook for UK manufacturers remains healthy, with both total and export orders firming up. Despite a dip in the pace of output growth, companies expect a strong pick-up in the next three months."
Following the release of that data, the pound held on to gains against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD rising 0.17% to trade at 1.6646.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.3%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 dipped 0.5%, France’s CAC 40 declined 0.45%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.5%.