Forex Pros – Manufacturing production in the U.K. rose less-than-expected in March, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said that manufacturing production rose by 0.2% in March, up from February flat reading.
Economists had expected manufacturing production to rise by 0.3% in March.
Year-on-year, manufacturing production rose at an annualized rate of 2.7% in March, after rising by 4.9% in February. Analysts had expected year-on-year manufacturing production to rise at an annualized rate of 2.8%.
Meanwhile, the report showed that industrial production rose by 0.3% in March after tumbling 1.2% in February, falling short of expectations for a 0.9% increase.
Following the release of the data, the pound was down against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD shedding 0.37% to hit 1.6285.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly lower. The FTSE 100 slumped 1%, the EURO STOXX 50 dropped 1.35%, France’s CAC 40 tumbled 1.4%, while Germany’s DAX fell 1.3%.
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