Investing.com - U.K. construction sector activity expanded at the slowest rate in more than a year in November, dampening optimism over the country’s economic outlook, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, market research firm Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply said that their U.K. construction purchasing managers' index declined to a seasonally adjusted 59.4 last month from a reading of 61.4 in October. Economists had expected the index to fall to 61.2 in November.
On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates expansion, below indicates contraction.
Commenting on the report, Tim Moore, senior economist at Markit and author the report, said, “The construction sector remains a strong growth engine within the UK economy, but momentum has undoubtedly cooled since the summer."
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5704 from around 1.5716 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7923 from 0.7919 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. London’s FTSE 100 rallied 1.2%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 inched up 0.75%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.9%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.5%.